Corpse Party: Repeated Fear - Alternative Story
by BlessxX
Summary: The Corpse Party Blood covered ...Repeated Fear story if different characters ended up in the same space together, for example if Satoshi and Yuka didn't wake up in the same closed space and were instead with someone else. How would things go differently and how would it change the outcome for the group?
1. Closed Space 1

As soon as she opened her eyes Seiko was hit with a wave of shock and confusion so fast she thought she might throw up. Just seeing one familiar face would have been greatly appreciated, even if it wasn't Naomi she needed someone to remind her that anything was real.

She could have sworn that mere moments ago she was with her friends, cleaning up after the culture festival and wishing Mayu a final farewell.

There was an earthquake, that much she remembered...and then what?

Seiko stood up shakily, anxiously taking in her surroundings, she was in a classroom but not her own. Besides the fact the desks and chairs were clearly too small the cracked floorboards and decaying walls said enough for themselves.

"N-naomi?" No answer. She spoke up despite her apprehension. "Naomi, are you there?!"... "Can anyone hear me?!" There wasn't so much as an echo and Seiko could already feel dread in the pit of her stomach. This wasn't right.

Standing around shaking wasn't going to do anything for her and with this realisation Seiko decided to make a move.

She started over at the windows, moving from one to the next and pulling tight. She felt frustration as none of them would budge or even move at all.

'God, it's pitch black outside, I can't even tell where I am', she thought to herself.

Her next stop was towards the door, moving cautiously to avoid the cracks and wood jutting up from beneath the floor. A piece of paper hanging from the wall caught her eye. She spared no time reading it.

 _'Heavenly Host Elementary - Notice to all faculty and students'_

"An elementary school?", that would explain the desk sizes, it wasn't just that though, the name 'Heavenly Host' rung a bell. She knew she had heard it before. It took her a second of thinking but-

'That's it, the one that was demolished...the one that was replaced with Kisaragi Academy'. Her own high school.

"Oh god! What's happening?!" Seiko shrieked out in fear, there was no way this could be real.

A whirlwind of thoughts swarmed her brain, 'Where was she? Where were her friends? Could she even leave this place?' The windows themselves seemed more like decorations than anything real and she feared that the same might go for any other type of exit.

For Seiko putting on a brave face was her specialty, she was best at pretending nothing was wrong and hiding how she really felt, it helped her seem optimistic at the most stressful times. So much so that she often believed it herself. But now...she was alone and was there any point putting on a brave face if no one was around to see it? or even believe it?

Naomi, and all of her other friends crossed her mind...what if they were here too? She had to at least try to look for them and she knew if she stood in this empty room any longer she'd go mad. So Seiko took her first step out of the classroom with one goal in mind: to find her friends.

...

The hallway somehow seemed even dingier than the classroom but Seiko had no time to dwell on it as she desperately just wanted to find someone else.

This is how she stumbled across classroom 2-A. It was the darkest place so far and just being in it sent a shiver down her spine. Those details were instantly shot aside, a familiar figure was rising from the floor, seemingly just standing up. She stepped closer to be sure.

"Mochida?" Seiko whispered to herself. A gasp escaped her as she confirmed it was in fact her classmate standing before her.

"Shinohara...is that you?" Satoshi stood ignoring the shakiness in his knees. "Are you okay? Are you hurt? Do you know where we are?" Satoshi moved closer to her - sounding not so much frantic but more like he was extremely concerned.

Seiko didn't answer his questions immediately, it took a second to gather herself, the relief that she was no longer alone hitting her full on. "Alright slow down there, the answers are yes, no and no." With the notion that she was no longer by herself, her usual demeanor was back, it was more of a comfort for her than anything. "Geez, Mochida who knew you would be concerned about me...you know what I've made up my mind you and Naomi have my blessing." She added with a devious smile, this was the only thing that would make her feel normal.

Satoshi was quite taken aback by her composure, he smiled with relief, wondering how she managed it.

The two caught up for a bit. Satoshi revealed that he had only just woken up and so had nothing to share while Seiko informed him of the windows and the paper on the wall. Silence caught up with them and for a few minutes they just stood there, processing.

Seiko heard Satoshi mumble something to himself. "What is it, Mochida?"

"Yuka, I have to find her, if we're both here then there's a chance that everyone else is too and she can't be alone in a place like this...she just can't she's too sensitive".

The more than genuine concern for his sister was evident in his voice and Seiko ached for him knowing fine well how she would feel if it were any of her siblings. "It's okay, we'll find her, come on let's start looking straight away". She forced an optimistic tone hoping it would rub off on him.

Satoshi looked up at her, an unusually determined glint in his eyes and nodded. "Yeah, let's...let's find everyone."

For almost a split second Seiko almost felt better about all this. And then something caught her eye. It was so dark she must have missed it: a pile of bones in the middle of the room.

The two of the walked further into the classroom, towards the bones.

"No, no, no Mochida that's a person! Why is there a dead person here?" She turned away quickly, holding a sob back.

Satoshi was ready to calm her down when the abrupt flash of a blue light ascended from within the corpse. He gasped causing Seiko to turn back around and do the same.

"...It's a ghost" Seiko uttered fruitlessly. She didn't believe too much in them before so never imagined what one would really look like, but she knew that's what this little flame had to be, the idea was no crazier than an abandoned school, or windows that wouldn't open or a dead body in a classroom.

The idea was still no crazier when the flame began to speak. Satoshi didn't move an inch, he didn't feel threatened yet but was not ready to let his guard down.

"You two are new victims, are you not?" The ghost spoke up, its voice was not frightening, it sounded pained like each word was hard to get out. The simple idea of sadness came to mind.

"Who are you?" Satoshi asked more curious than scared at this point.

"I was brought here against my will...and confined...just like you."

The air seemed to tighten, "What do you mean by that, who brought us here? Is there a way out?" Satoshi wasn't sure he wanted the answer but he had been in the dark up until this point so the more he knew the better.

The flame answered the second question first, " I'm afraid there isn't a way out. This school exists in a reality of its own, cut off from the world you know. As for who brought you here... 'they' did. They're constantly bringing new victims into this school...This place... this is a cursed multidimensional nexus...multiple planes of existence, all piled on top of one another...created by powerful and vengeful spirits... 'Closed spaces'. We are all the unfortunate victims of this inescapable abduction...and It seems you two are not the only ones who have been brought here. I'm sensing numerous others."

Satoshi's attention spiked. "That might mean that everybody else really is here too then? My guess that it was everyone in the room at the time."

"That's possible, I don't know the exact number but it's likely since they were pulled into the school at the exact same time."

Seiko perked up at the news "That's good isn't it Mochida that means we're not alone and you can find Yuka!"

Satoshi didn't say anything, he understood where she was coming from but was it really better for them to have been pulled down to this place too?

His thoughts were interrupted by the flame "I'm afraid that might not be possible, as I said they may be in the same school but the space they now occupy differs from the space we occupy...you cannot meet up." The way it was delivered was not cruel or harsh but it still felt like a kick in the gut for the both of them.

"So we can't see them...ever?" Seiko questioned, deflated.

"If you wish to do so then you must first find some means of entering their space or bringing them into this one. Even if escape is still impossible...you'll be able to die together."

"Oh god...there's no way out"

Satoshi wasn't as easily put off by the flames words "Thank you for the warning but we have to try." He looked at Seiko and nodded. "We'll do whatever it takes to find them and get everyone out together! They're all such good people and they don't deserve this." There was no way he was just going to give up on them, he may not have been the bravest soul but he had always hoped that if the situation called for it, he would step up and this was no exception.

Seiko thought of her best friend, Satoshi was right they had to try, Seiko wanted to see her again so badly. She couldn't let herself be put off by the ghosts words. "You-You're right Mochida, we'll do whatever it takes..."

"Yeah we will, and we won't give up on any of them just because there's some nebulous curse that might strike back!"

"Such determination in a space like this is rare, try to retain that noble spirit no matter what, it may just help you through this. And in the end even if all you can do is alter your fate in the slightest" the flame paused seemingly thinking things over. "Just please don't end up like us..."

With that the flame disappeared. Right on cue, the horrible sound of screeching from the chalkboard. The figure of a little girl, glowing eerily, a tattered red dress on was sitting curled up against the wall. Seiko took a step back.

"Come Shinohara let's out of here." Satoshi moved towards her grabbing her arm and guiding her out.

...

"You saw all that too right?" Seiko asked once they had both caught their breath.

"Yeah...I did".

"So now what?"

"We do what we said we would, we find our friends and we get out of here..."

There was a pause.

"Are you ready for that Shinohara?" Satoshi didn't want to push her too far though he also knew she must be missing their friends, Naomi in particular as much as he was.

Seiko wasn't sure she would ever be 'ready', she was still waiting to wake up from this nightmare, but she knew that she had to put on a brave face...like she always does. "Yeah I'm ready." Her natural smile appeared, her care free composure regained. "Naomi will be worried sick about you after all, come on we better go find her, I know how that girl can be when she's worried about someone."

And with that they set off with pure determination, unknowing and unaware of the horrors that lay ahead of them.


	2. Closed Space 2

"Ahhhhhhhhhh"

At the sound of the petrifying scream Yoshiki's eyes snapped open. He sat up too fast causing himself to feel light-headed. He was quick to realise: that wasn't the worst of his problems.

He tried to properly absorb his surroundings, even if his brain was initially rejecting the sight; it was all too surreal. 'What the hell?' He thought, his confusion refused to subside and his anxiety only worsened.

"Hey! What the hell is this?!" If this was some kind of joke it wasn't funny.

Then he remembered: the scream that woke him in the first place. 'Could it have been Shinozaki?'

In that moment nothing else mattered. There would be time to figure this out later. Right now the only thing pertinent was identifying that scream.

Yoshiki bolted out of the classroom swinging his head from left to right, trying to determine which direction the noise had come from.

"Is anyone there?! Shinozaki?" He spoke loud and clear so that anyone around would surely hear.

And then everything changed.

No, it couldn't be what he thought it was.

Taking a step closer only confirmed his fears, it was the partially decaying corpse of what appeared to be a female student. "Shit, what the hell is this place?" This was not good, his friends could not be in here. Ayumi could not be in here.

"Kishinuma?" From his left, the soft and familiar voice had him spinning on his heel.

"Suzumoto! You're here too. Are you okay? You're not injured are you?" Yoshiki observed her seriously. She looked fine, albeit scared. Almost like she was trying to curl up into herself. Still at the sight of a familiar face her body relaxed with relief.

"I'm fine, I'm so glad to see you, are you okay as well?" She had been so scared and alone, it had taken her a solid 5 minutes to accept that this wasn't just a joke that her friends were playing on her.

Mayu took sight of what Yoshiki had been looking at, she had already seen one, more than one actually, she practically tripped over the last one... that's why she had screamed.

"I'm ok too, it's good to see you're alright" he followed her eyes back to the body. "I think...that it's real, I don't know why it would be here...hell I don't know where here is." Turning back to look at her he noticed her face had paled. "Ah, are you ok Suzumoto, do you want to go somewhere else?"

She did want to go somewhere else, anywhere else but knew it wouldn't make much difference. "They're everywhere" this came out and a whisper, Yoshiki wasn't sure what she had said.

"Hmm they're what?"

"There's more...dead people, she's not the only one" Mayu cringed at the memory of the corpses, she had barely covered any ground yet and she had already seen more than most people would see in their whole lifetime.

"You're joking, man what is with this place".

"I don't know...do you think the others are here too?" Mayu wanted to see Shig again, she knew she'd be ok as long as he was around.

"It's likely, since we're both here...and since we managed to run into each other I'm sure we'll come across one another in no time so no need to worry I'm sure" He mostly believed what he was saying, but he was worried, it was the not knowing that was killing him, these bodies were here for a reason. What if any of his friends could end up like that.

"Yeah...you're right and two pairs of eyes is better than one".

"That's the spirit, let's go find our friends then, I'm sure Morishige will be looking for you".

Mayu agreed with that statement, Shig was probably worried about how she would manage all by herself. She didn't want to make him worry any longer, so she had to find him. "I hope he's ok".

"Don't worry he'll probably be more fascinated by this place than scared anyway" Yoshiki smiled light heartedly "He'll think it's like something out of those weird movies he likes".

"Yeah he'll be fine, I'm sure...and don't worry Kishinuma I'm sure Shinozaki is fine as well."

Yoshiki flinched a little a her words running his hand through his hair. "Uh yeah I'm sure she is...what makes you say that anyway." Sure Shinozaki was the one at the forefront of his mind, but she didn't know that did she?

"Oh it's nothing, we better make a start on searching don't you think".

Yoshiki regained his composure "Good call, let's go".

...

The two had searched for a while, they had come across only two significant things. Their first encounter with a ghost, it was a small blue flame that arose from one of the bodies they were passing by. It explained to them the closed spaces as well as the pain this school brought.

It didn't exactly boost their spirits.

The other thing was the newspaper article: it described the kidnapping of 4 elementary school children and their brutal murders that occurred right in this very building. This place was only getting worse the longer they stayed in it.

Things were uneventful for a while after that.

They were walking down the second floor hallway when Yoshiki urged Mayu over to the room entitled infirmary.

"Maybe this ones open, could be useful."

Mayu didn't deny that but the room itself made her feel uneasy, actually the whole hallway did.

Yoshiki grabbed the handle and started to pull.

"Kishinuma wai-"

"Hello"

"Eeek" Mayu turned to the side to see a girl in a uniform she didn't recognise standing there, her eyes looked cold and dead. 'Where did she even come from?'

Yoshiki loosened his grip on the door and walked back over beside Mayu. "Who are you?" 'She's got eyes like a dead fish' Yoshiki thought to himself, it was not an inviting look.

Ignoring his question she asked her own, she seemed like she might even be talking to herself. "You're new are you not?"

"Yeah we've not been here long...were you brought against your will too?" Yoshiki asked not yet feeling threatened. This was the first person they had seen that wasn't a pile of bones so he wasn't ready to brush her off just yet.

The girl kept her cold stare on the two unphased by them "ActuaIly, I died here quite a while ago, I came here in search for someone important to me you see."

Yoshiki was more taken aback by the fact that she was suggesting that she had came here by her own volition more than the fact she was dead. She didn't look dead...not really, to be fair she didn't look alive either, but she was still different.

So far on their travels the pair had came across their first ghost, it glowed blue and hardly took a human form, it made him wonder why there was such a difference between the two since they were both dead. What exactly made some ghosts so different from the others?

Mayu finally decided to speak, not feeling as fearful of her as she maybe should, "Excuse me Miss, you look familiar, would you happen to be an author?" Mayu could recall her face from something that Ayumi had shown her, she was sure that this was the same person the class rep often excitedly brings up during some of their conversations.

"Yes, my name is Saenoki Naho, I am an occultist who specialises in my writings on the paranormal...or should I say specialised."

Yoshiki wasn't interested in her or her past achievements he had only taken one thing from what she was saying. "Ok, that's great and all but you came here looking for someone right? Like by choice...does that mean you have a way out?"

Naho thought about it, she considered if there was any point of helping them, afterall she was yet to witness anyone escape from this place. It seemed there was no point in seeing how things played out, things were getting boring in here anyways especially with her search for Kibiki-sensei hitting constant dead ends.

"I don't have a way out but...I have an idea that might work."

"Spit it out then" Yoshiki wasn't happy with the speed this conversation was going at, the less time spent in here the better.

"Kishinuma..." Mayu looked over at him, she wanted out too but she was still afraid of saying the wrong thing, this was still a ghost after all.

Naho was unmoved by both of their reactions and continued on. "These closed spaces that we're in, they were formed by the 4 children kidnapped and killed almost 30 years ago in this very building. They are giving shape to this nexus. So what I'm suggesting is appeasement.

"The four kids in the newspaper article we found" said Mayu solemnly thinking things over. "It was horrible what happened to them."

"Appeasement?" Yoshiki repeated "Would that work? How would we go about it?"

"By putting them to rest the suffering and pain that holds these spaces together might just begin to break down, which my give a way to an exit...that's my theory so far anyway."

'At least that's a start' Mayu thought, she didn't want to say anything yet but she was so far ok with the plan. If it meant ending the pain of innocent children and getting to see her friends again she was up for it without a doubt. 'Those poor kids are probably so misunderstood after all.'

"Ok I understand what you mean but like I said, how?" Yoshiki was eager to know how to actually do this, right now it was all just words...if there was really a way.

"I was getting there." Naho quipped lightly. "What they lack is closure, with no remorse ever shown from the killer all they have is their anger and sorrow."

"The killer?" Mayu questioned, she hadn't really given it much thought, they must be nothing but a monster though...to kill children like that. Could they even gain remorse from someone like that, and even if so how would they...unless the killer themselves was here with them.

"Yes the killer...they are in this building with us"

Yoshiki felt the dread he experienced when he first woke up here resurface "You're kidding there's no way someone like that will show any remorse"

Naho didn't bother to reply.

Mayu tensed as Naho confirmed what she was thinking. Though she thought on it and decided that they had to try, the way Naho described it, if the plan went well then everything could go back to normal and they could even help those children. "There's nothing to lose at this point Kishinuma, we may as well get started now, I say finding the killer is the way to start."

Yoshiki looked at her and hesitated "Yeah...I just, there's..."

"This may be the quickest way to seeing our friends again." Mayu may have not sounded fearless but she did sound determined, she wanted to do something to help, there was no use in being useless, it wouldn't get her anywhere.

Yoshiki smiled a little "Yeah ok, let's do this then." He turned to Naho "Look I don't know much about you but...Thanks, any lead is a good lead right now and im grateful for it."

Naho didn't say anything she just watched as the two turned walked away, in search of the killer.

...

At first they were walking aimlessly, they had no place to start really so it was just a matter of looking until they found.

Mayu looked over at Yoshiki as they walked his eyes scanning around the halls. She didn't like the silence anymore. "So Kishinuma, if this works out we'll be able to see the others again, that's good isn't it?"

Yoshiki's eyes flickered over to her glad she was making conversation. It was such a shame that this would have to be her send off. That the last memories of them she would have before she went off to her new school would be this. "Yeah, It'll be good to see them again, I don't know what it is about this place but it makes me feel like I wasn't just with them a couple of hours ago, it feels more like days."

"I understand the feeling." Mayus eyes cast downwards slightly as she began to think about her friends again and how much she missed them.

Yoshiki felt bad when he saw her face, 'dammit I said something wrong again didn't I'. As he looked at her saddened expression a thought popped into his head and he just couldn't help himself, he smirked inwardly to himself. "Hey Suzumoto, bet you're excited to see Morishige again huh?"

Mayu looked over at him, his words seemed innocent enough but the smirk on his face said enough about what it was he was implying. 'Ok Kishinuma two can play at that game.' Mayu done her best to sound innocent. "Yep I am, surely not as excited as you are to see Shinozaki though" she looked away after saying that trying her best to hide her smile.

Yoshiki's face reddened a little "Well yeah but not just her...y'know everyone else too" Its not like he was lying he wanted to see the others, I mean Satoshi was his best friend and he wanted him to be ok too.

It was then Yoshiki caught eye of her expression "Hey what exactly is with that look? Something funny?" He spoke with a partially agitated tone.

Mayu couldn't help let out a giggle after hearing his slightly aggravated and embarrassed tone. "No nothing funny Kishinuma, I'm just not use to seeing your face get so red."

After this comment his face really did become a noticeable shade of red. He decided he'd have to get his own back. "Ah you're right Suzumoto, good thing Morishige isn't here to see me, he might get the wrong idea and get all jealous, I know how close you two are afterall."

Mayu could feel her own blush forming, she guessed this was pay back, "W-well, he wouldn't be jealous...it's not like that or anything." 'Dammit, I stuttered didn't I?'

At Mayus quick loss of composure Yoshiki let out a short laugh, it was definitely more fun when it was other people getting embarrassed opposed to him.

With this Mayu also let out a laugh, it wasn't like it would be if she was back in her own school and felt safe enough to drop her guard, but it still felt good, for a moment she might even be able to pretend she wasn't in this place, she was just in her own world talking with a classmate at the culture festival. 'If only.'

...

As they traversed the halls it wasn't until they reached a certain hallway on the first floor that they saw something other than corpses. Although there was that too, four of them all in one space and in the middle stood another ghost. Not one like the flame they had encountered, or one like Naho that looked almost alive. This one was different, almost like a combination of the two, it shone an unearthly blue but its figure looked normal. It was the normal looking figure of a little boy.

"Oh god Kishinuma thats-"

"The one from the paper...I know"

"What do we do, do you think he'll hurt us?"

Yoshiki wasn't sure he didn't want to risk it considering Naho mentioned that it was there pain and 'anger' that was holding this place together. But still they needed to get through. "I don't know, we could try going around."

Before having much time to consider the plan that most likely wouldn't have worked anyway the ghost boy had spotted them and was much faster than anticipated, before Yoshiki could make up his mind it was right in front of him looking right into his eyes, its face contorted in anger.

"Gihh It Backk" It started to moan.

'Shit he's got no tongue and I can't...'

"Kishinuma! Hurry let's just get out of here!" Mayu was ready to run but Yoshiki didn't move an inch. "Kishinuma!"

'Shit' "Suzumoto...I can't" he spoke in breaths, clearly straining himself, "I can't move...just go... run right now!"

Mayu felt like she was about to get thrown into a full blown panic attack, she couldn't leave, it wasn't in her nature, but she was scared...so scared.

As the ghost boy brought his hands up to Yoshiki she did what her body told her to do which to her surprise was not run away. Her hand went straight for her pocket and grabbed the first thing it touched which she then launched at the ghost.

There was a sound like glass shattering as the boy stumbled backwards away from Yoshiki who done the same but managed to catch himself.

'I can move again', he looked at the ghost was looking down towards the ground grabbing at his face.

"Suzumoto quick lets go before he recovers!" The two ran past him in the direction that the ghost was initially blocking. Yoshiki could have sworn he heard something as he ran past the corpses...'Kizami?' Maybe he was imagining it.

The two ran round the corner to the right not stopping until they were sure they weren't being followed. They ended up at the 'Custodians closet' which Yoshiki quickly discovered like many of the doors in this place was also unopenable.

"Kishinuma...are you ok?" Mayu thought he was going to die back there...the magnitude of everything was finally coming to her attention.

"I am thanks to you, what was that thing you threw anyway?" He had been mere moments away from death he assumed, he wasn't taking this lightly, if it could happen to him it could happen to anyone of their friends.

"It's ok...you didn't really think I'd leave anyway did you" she laughed a little, what she really wanted to do was cry but...not in front of a boy. "Right, the thing I threw...I should've mentioned it earlier, It just slipped my mind. It was some kind of stone, like a gem or power stone I think they're called. Before we met up I found it in one of the classrooms."

"Power stone? I wonder why there'd be something like that in a place like this...still I'm not complaining." Yoshiki stood scratching his head as he let his eyes wander off to the back wall and what was in front of it. Mayu turned as well.

"Another body" Mayu said sadly.

"Yeah but what's that beside it?"

Mayu looked over at the object in question, the two moved closer. "A doll?"

Yoshiki bent down and picked it up.

"Kishinuma, what are you doing, we should be more careful around here, especially after what just happened" Mayu was on edge now, she didn't want to do anything that could put then in danger.

"Well we can't just leave it her, it might be useful." He started inspecting the doll, it was creepy and old fashioned, it wore a red dress and hat.

"So you just bend down and pick it up just like that" Mayu didn't mean to sound frustrated she was just scared after what had just happened. And it wasn't just that, this place it's self made her feel less like herself.

Yoshiki looked back at her after she said that, he couldn't understand what the big deal was at all "Well yeah you want me to levitate it?"

Mayu didn't get to say anything else before Yoshiki's eyes snapped back at the doll and he jumped a little. "What? What is it?"

"You can't hear that?"

Mayu stepped closer to him and the doll and suddenly she could hear a voice in her head. "It's saying it's sorry."

"Not just that...it's alluding to the fact that it's the murderer...or more likely owned by the murderer seeing as I couldn't imagine the doll itself being very deadly." As he listened to the dolls message he couldn't help the feeling of resent that was forming. How could apologising make things any better? 'If you were that sorry you wouldn't have done it in the first place.' Still it didn't matter what he though, if the ghosts thought it was good enough...

"This is it Kishinuma! If this counts as repentance we could use it to appease the children." Mayu was hopeful about this, it had to work...it most definitely would.

"I agree now we just have to find the children, or maybe even just one of them come on lets go." As he looked back up at Mayu he noticed something behind her that set off warning signals all through his body. "Hey behind you be careful!"

Mayu turned quickly at his warning noticing another ghost like they had encountered earlier right behind her...except this one was red, and looked more like an actual flame rather than just being shaped like one. "Lets go Kishinuma."

The flame seemed to flicker for a second before finally speaking up "What you think you can just stand around my body ignoring me and leave as soon as I show myself! It's not fair! It hurts you know...Sister it hurts."

Mayu stepped back whimpering slightly, the ghost did not appreciate her reaction "Are you scared of me?! I'll show you what it's like to be scared all the time!" And with that the flame launched itself at Mayu.

In an instant Yoshiki dropped the doll and moved his body in front of Mayu's using his hand to protect face. As it hit him he felt his hand burn as if actual fire had just hit it, he let out a groan of pain.

"Ahh Kishinuma are you ok?" With the flame now gone she ran to the front of him trying to get a better look of where he was holding. "Kishinuma?"

"Gah I'm fine, it was just a little burn. Its ok really." He answered through the slight pain trying to reassure her.

Mayu felt bad since the attack was supposed to be aimed at her, and she knew how Kishinuma was, he wouldn't really say how he felt. "Here I have some stick-on bandages with me in my bad somewhere, lets see your hand."

"Right thanks, let's be quick though, we should get away from here." With that he tilted his head towards the body indicating that's what he wanted to get away from.

Mayu nodded and after his hand was covered she grabbed the doll and the two started to put some distance between themselves and this area.

"Kishinuma...I'm sorry if i snapped at you earlier, I think I was just a little shaken...to think you helped me right after...well thank you."

Honestly Yoshiki wasn't even thinking about it, he figured as much but still the fact she cared enough to apologise was appreciated by him. "Don't' worry 'bout it, seriously a tiny little moment of frustration in a place like this is nothing to dwell over...plus we're totally even now so..." He looked at her smiling raising his burnt hand a little higher for a second to indicate what he was referring to.

Mayu was glad he wasn't upset and smiled back "Yep...I guess we are even then."

...

They were hesitant as they came back to where the ghost boy had been.

"I don't see 'im" said Kishinuma walking a step in front of Mayu just to be sure,

"Ok then, lets just be quick getting through here".

Kishinuma was about to agree when he stopped himself "Wait, but aren't we looking for him now? So he can hear the repentance?"

Mayu's stomach dropped, he was right, but to go looking for the thing that tried to hurt them it scared her.

Kishinuma caught note of her expression, he understood, afterall he was the one who was forced into that paralysed state...it was one of the worst feelings of his life. "It's okay Suzumoto, it won't be like it was before now we have this" he motioned to the doll "This will work I'm sure of and we'll be one step close to seeing everyone else and getting out of here."

Mayu smiled lightly appreciating his reassurance. She didn't answer but she nodded and went forward doll in hand. She was tired of looking like the scared one, she needed to act. 'Shig wouldn't hesitate if he were trying to find me so I won't either'.

The two searched the area for a while but there was no sign of the ghost boy anymore.

"Just our luck, obviously he'd disappear as soon as we were looking for him" Kishinuma said with a sigh scratching his head.

They ended up back on the second floor where they had met Naho, she wasn't there anymore...instead in her place was another ghost child, a girl this time one with a missing eye.

Mayu was scared and knew she should be, but at the same time couldn't keep herself from not feeling at least a bit sympathetic towards them. 'It must have been so painful to die like that.'

"Ok are we really doing this" Yoshiki looked at Mayu.

She took a deep breath before nodding. "Yeah I guess we are."

Yoshiki then held out his hand suggesting that he wanted the doll.

"No it's ok Kishinuma I'll do it." She didn't know why she felt like being brave, maybe she thought Shig would be proud of her or that it was so she could be proud of herself, she just knew she had to do this.

"Suzumoto, you serious? I don't mind really, if it's what gets us out of here...and I mean if anything goes wrong..." he was ready to consider just grabbing it off her, but in the end this was her choice still the worry was still there. Not like he wanted to do it either but...if something did go wrong maybe it would be better it happen to him than her. 'Although whos to say we both won't get it'.

"Kishinuma, trust me...I want to do it." She couldn't really believe what she was saying herself, but through her shaking and stuttering she felt strong, and ready. 'I'm coming Shig'.

Yoshiki let out a nervous laugh. "Ok then...just don't want Morishige on my back for letting you do this that's all". He had a bad feeling but then again everywhere in this place gave him a bad feeling, it might just be nerves.

Mayu smiled gently at him, "It's ok...I wont tell."

With that they both started towards the ghosts who quickly took notice and stopped pacing letting them come to her.

Mayu walked over clutching the doll, her shaking started to worsen but there was no backing out now.

The one eyed ghost girl was about ready to attack when Mayu held up the doll. "Wait! Just listen" Her voice was shaky but she did not relent. "I have something I need you to hear."

Mayu and Yoshiki's backs were faced towards the wall at the side of the infirmary door...the girl stood directly in front of them both now, though her movements stopped as she listened to the doll and it cries of repentance.

"It's ok now, you can be at peace." Mayu's shaken lessened a little as she saw the ghosts face soften.

That moment only lasted for a second as it let out a screech that actually hurt to hear. Yoshiki turned quickly as he heard a loud bang, it was the infirmary door swinging open and out of it came another small ghost girl this time with the complete top half of her head missing. Yoshiki stumbled back a bit and to the side at the sight as the first one with the missing eye simultaneously went towards Mayu causing her to step back.

Although the ghost did not just go for her, in an instant it ended up behind her along with the other ghost girl and Yoshiki and Mayu found themselves facing each other.

Both ghost seemed to levitate slightly as they grabbed onto Mayus back, not just her clothes but right into her skin, she let out a cry of pain realising they were trying to pull her backwards. She felt the tiny fingers burrow into her and she wanted it to stop now. The doll had inevitably been dropped without her realising it, she took no notice.

Mayus body was ready to be shaped into a sort of sideways 'U' as her body was pulled back at enough speed to lift her feet of the ground and send her arms forward for a second.

"Suzumoto!" Yoshiki was as quick to act as he had been back when the flame had attacked her, he brought his hand forward to grab hers. "Come on, I've got you!" Yoshiki yelled throwing out his arm towards her, she tried to take it, they were so close, just as their fingertips touched she was pulled back with a force stronger than she had ever felt before. He was fast, but not fast enough.

Mayu could swear that everything went in slow motion, she swore she could hear each vein in her body tear apart, she felt it too, her skin being ripped from bone, her head being tore away from her eyes, for a second she was weightless and then she was heavy. There was no time for her to scream or react, but she knew she was dying, they had left her time to realise that.

For Yoshiki it all lasted a split second. He was about to grab her and when she was ripped back so fast he swore he saw a ripple in the air. A tearing sound invaded his ears as her body shattered right in front of him. It practically exploded, blood spurted out from the now empty space where she was pulled back from, he wasn't quite sure what had happened to her, all that was around him was blood and chunks of red. The blood sprayed onto him, bits of flesh grabbed onto his own skin, he saw red for a second as blood went into his eye, it dripped down into his mouth and he spat as he stumbled back all the way into the wall still unable to understand what was happening.

The two ghost girls had vanished but he didn't notice.

Yoshiki wasn't quick to regain his composure, he stood leaning on the wall, using his left arm for support as he looked down and away from the flesh that was only mere seconds ago a human being. He tried to scream but nothing more than a small voiceless cry came out.

He slowly began to slide down the wall, his knees contracted as they slumped to the side.

He not so gently put his head on the wall. Blood drops slid from around his eye and down the side of his cheek. He stuttered still feeling the urge to scream. Nothing would ever erase this from his memory, nothing would change the fact that he had failed her.

'I'm so sorry Suzumoto...I should have...been quicker'. He felt he had only himself to blame for this. He should have just taken the damn doll off her, or not suggested using it in the first place.

Too many bad thoughts were in his head, he would have to break the news and somehow try and find a way to explain this, Suzumoto was his friend she had always been nothing but sweet to him and now he wouldn't ever be able to return the favor, what about their group would they even be able to move past this? Her leaving was bad enough, if they knew they'd never see her again...It was too much. The idea of having to tell them all what happened here filled him with the worst kind of dread he had ever felt. After a while of just sitting there motionless his eyes began to cloud over and he noticed a pressure on his body, a sort of heaviness that wasn't there before. He was drifting away but too consumed in dark thoughts to acknowledge it. Even as his body became heavier and heavier he ignored it. Eventually a black mist appearing out of nowhere started to wrap itself around him, looking for a way in, into his body, right into his soul and his very existence. He didn't even notice. The darkness around him was spreading but he didn't care. He didn't care.


	3. Closed Space 3

"This can't be real This can't be realthiscantberealthiscantberealthiscantberealthiscantbereal"

"Please...somebody...save me" Ayumi was gasping for breaths as panic took over her mind and all her rational thoughts and behaviour were buried away.

She had woken up in this horrible place all alone with no one around and it was quickly becoming too much for her. She had always loved stories about places like this, scary stories were her thing after all. Ayumi Shinozaki had always proudly served as class 2-9's horror rep so most would think that she might actually have a fascination for a place like this. ...They would be sorely mistaken.

Talking about scary things opposed to actually living them were two very different things. She wanted nothing more than for this to be a dream that she would wake up from any moment now.

After the initial shock of waking up here Ayumi had barely managed to prop herself against the side of the teachers podium but that was as far as she was going to get. There was no way of standing with her legs as shaky and weak as they were along with her heavy uncontrolled breathing which was making her feel light headed.

There was no chance of her making it anywhere alone when like this.

She thought of Mochida and how much she wanted him to be here, he would know what to do, and exactly what to say.

But he wasn't here and although she was scared she still had a survival instinct and her general common sense.

Ayumi didn't think that passing out from lack of air would help her any, she would just wake up and go through the same thing all over again.

Putting the idea of where she was out of her head she squeezed her eyes shut tight and began trying to calm herself down, starting with slowing her breathing down.

After a few minutes her breathing though still extremely irrational was nowhere near as bad as it was when she first woke up.

With that she made her first attempt at standing up. Her whole body was shaking violently so it wasn't an easy task. Using the podium for support she started to push up. Her body had almost stood up all the way when there was a loud creak from right outside the door. 'God no someone's coming in here' she thought to herself as she dropped back down undoing the progress she had made.

Her breathing became more erratic and she covered her mouth in a futile attempt to quiet herself down. 'Please just pass by'.

Ayumi made no attempt to hide as her body just would not let her move, all she could do is watch as the door opened all too slowly and dramatically, she trembled more, completely frozen in place and awaited her fate.

* * *

"Seiko...?...Satoshi? Is anyone there? The silence answered for itself. "Where am I? This isn't...Kisaragi."

Naomi left the classroom she was in hoping the hallways would prove more useful. She was met with more decaying walls and cracked up floorboards.

'I have to find someone else'. She wanted to start looking around but progress would prove to be slow if she was going to keep flinching and looking back every time there was a creak in one of the floorboards.

"If it was at least a little less dark down here I might be less scared to move." Nothing about this place felt safe, it had a sort of sinister air to it that made each step feel like it was ripping at her soul.

"If I don't get out of here soon, I'll surely go mad." Naomi started to walk forward feeling the weight of each step taking its toll on her.

She stopped suddenly gasping as an ear piercing scream reached her ear. 'Seiko...that was Seiko wasn't it!?'

Still terrified she picked up her pace until she was practically running. Her eyes were adjusting well but it would still be easy to trip over almost anything. She stopped near the end of a hall lost on where to go next, she was sure this is the direction the scream had come from but maybe it was further away, or the person who screamed had moved.

"Seiko! Seiko!" Naomi was sure it was her, and so began to shout her best friends name as loudly as she could manage.

Once she realized she wasn't getting a response, she stopped and the deafening silence of the school was set into place again.

She chose a direction and began walking, she passed a few rooms but only one of them seemed to be real. The rest were more like decorations, she wouldn't be able to describe them to anyone they were so out of place.

The door creaked loudly but gave no resistance as she slowly and methodically slid it open. Her heartbeat quickened as she became more and more anxious to see what was on the other side. She supposed it would be like this with every room she came across since the likeliness of there being something unpleasant on the other side stood strong in a place like this.

*Creak*

..."C-class-rep is that you?" What was on the other side of the door was not anywhere near what Naomi had expected...the class-rep was leaning against the teachers podium hugging her legs close to her with bloodshot eyes and a trembling disposition.

Ayumi's fear was replaced with momentary relief as the sight of a familiar face. She was slightly embarrassed over her current state but was sure it couldn't be held against her in a place like this.

"Are you ok?" Naomi asked stepping fully inside the room and walking over to her trembling classmate.

Ayumi had a hard time finding her voice at first and had to let out a few coughs before she could say anything. "I'm not hurt...but...Nakashima I don't know where we are. This shouldn't be happening" Ayumi felt tears burning behind her eyes, seeing one of her classmates had made her feel better but she was still terrified beyond belief.

Naomi felt bad looking at her current state, she was clearly having a hard time with this, she wanted to say something to make her feel better but wasn't sure she could. She was just as scared herself. "I...there was...I saw some kind of notice on the wall when I was looking around, I only had a quick look so maybe I read it wrong but...I'm sure it mentioned Heavenly Host..."

"Heavenly host...that can't be..." Ayumi's face became noticeably more pale, as someone who was into telling scary stories she was quite familiar with Heavenly Host.

The two just sat there for a while in silence after this. Nothing could be said or done to make things any better. This wasn't the kind of situation you could wait out or ignore. They had been faced with a real problem far bigger than any they had faced before and Naomi was sure that they had to do something other than waiting around for someone to save them. No one was coming.

"We should go class-rep, no use staying here all day, the others might be here so we may as well have a look around. Can you stand? Do you need me to help?"

Ayumi didn't want to move, she didn't feel like she had the energy to do anything. It wasn't just the fear, something about this place made her whole body feel off and her mind feel vulnerable, but she knew Naomi was right to try and move them. If there were others they had to start looking. "I think I'm ok to stand now, thanks though Nakashima."

Naomi gave a quick smile before standing up herself. Something dawned on her that she had to get confirmation on. "Um, class-rep before I got here did you scream at any point?"

Ayumi was fully standing up now although still leaning back on the podium. "Scream? No I don't think so." She had to think on it cause she might have but just not remembered considering she had been pretty out of it, she had surely being crying pretty loud but she didn't remember a scream coming from her. "Why'd you ask? Did you hear something?"

'So it wasn't her, maybe it really was Seiko then'. "Yeah I heard someone scream earlier, I though it might be Seiko but when I called out I didn't get an answer. I thought it might have been you and I could have just confused your voices but since you're saying you never screamed...maybe it really was her".

"Oh ok then, we'll have a look, if you're sure it was her then she might be close by and that might mean Mochida and the others are here as well." The scream Naomi mentioned made Ayumi feel uneasy since she didn't doubt that bad things could happen in a place like this, she could feel the malice in the air. She just hoped that they might run across Mochida soon. 'Although he'll probably be more relieved to see Nakashima than me' she thought dejectedly.

"If they are I hope we'll run into each other soon, safety in numbers and all."

"Mmhmm, I hope so too"

* * *

"Oh god no!" Ayumi yelled out grabbing her head and turning away from the corpse. It was the first one they had came across, it didn't seem fresh so they could assume it had been here for a while, the face was concave and appeared grey with the slightest tint of green. There was bugs crawling all over her including inside her gaping mouth. There was no noticeable wounds showing that would have led to death, so the cause of death could be assumed as dehydration or starvation.

Naomi stepped forward to get a closer look believing that her eyes had to be playing tricks on her. "This is...a real corpse?" For a second she just stared horrified but unable to look away, it was Ayumi's ragged breathing that snapped her out of it. She turned to her friend who was being reduced back to the initial state she was in when she first got here. "Are you ok?" It wasn't the best question to be asking and Naomi knew the answer already, but still she had to say something.

Ayumi turned a little to look at Naomi, trying to avoid glancing at the corpse. "It's ok, i'm just hyperventilating a little...we should keep going I'll feel better once we get away from here."

Naomi nodded and the two started waking, staying as close together as they could.

Their encounter with that corpse was not their last as after it more and more seemed to appear, some were fairly newer with visible wounds and uniforms still fairly intact while others were nothing but bones save for a few scraps of clothing. Each time they saw one Naomi felt herself become more used to the sight and it made her sick, it wasn't something you were supposed to adjust to. Even Ayumi although the sight made her stomach turn had become better at controlling herself around them and the sight no longer sent her into any uncontrollable panic attacks.

Ayumi stopped walking suddenly as they were searching a classroom.

"Something wrong?" Naomi asked halting her own search.

"I just got an idea." Ayumi answered seeing Naomi's curiosity spike. She pulled out one of her trademark candles. "Everyone in class 2-9 knows about these candles right, even would recognize them wouldn't she?"

Naomi lit up a little at the sight of the candle, the familiarity of it calming her nerves. "Of course, there isn't a person in our whole grade who hasn't seen one of the horror rep's famous ghost story candles."

Ayumi smiled at her answer reveling in her reputation. "Good, then how about we leave some around the school as we go, then if any one of our friends see's them they'll know we're here too and that we're alright." As she spoke she pulled out her match box easily using it to light up the candle and using the wax to place it firmly on the ground.

"That's a really good idea, at least then our friends will know they're not alone."

"Exactly." Ayumi said smiling and lighting another one for them to carry with them.

* * *

The two tried not to lose hope as they spent more time searching only to be met with no sign of their friend's, they had covered as much ground as they could coming across various different notes and warnings written by the dead, corpses and newspaper articles detailing the brutal murders of 4 young children. It seemed this place had an affinity for death long before it became a literal ghost house.

Eventually they found themselves on the east second floor hallway where they both stopped dead in their tracks as they noticed a wall splattered with blood all across it. The whole hall was a mess, as well as the wall there was blood on the floor, the ceiling and some had even found it's way on the door of what they could make out to be an infirmary. It was well spread out across whole wall, there were thick parts blotted all over as well as parts that had only light red smear marks.

What was worse was the blood seemed wet and fresh indicating that someone died here in some horrible way not too long ago. On the other side of the hall directly facing the biggest area of blood there some sort of black stain on the ground, possibly in the unkempt shape of a person.

"Oh god...this is horrible I wonder what could have happened here" Naomi said unable to tear her eyes away from the red on the wall. "We should just get away from here." Naomi looked over at Ayumi waiting for a response but was met with her face contorted into an uncharacteristically cold expression.

"Huh...something wrong class-rep?"

"Oooouuughhhh"

Naomi gasped a little as all she was met with was some type of unintelligible moan. "W-what is it, are you alr- aghh."

Ayumi took of suddenly pushing Naomi away. Still in shock Naomi hurriedly followed behind trying to keep up with her class-rep's new pace. Ayumi didn't go very far before stopping in front of a wall and just...staring at it.

"Class-rep what's wron-"

"NO ONE IS SAYING THAT!" Ayumi suddenly yelled loudly, her voice not sounding one bit like her own.

"Eek" Naomi took a step back not sure how to react. 'Maybe...it's exhaustion or the pressure of being in a place like this too long' she told herself trying to put rational thought into the situation.

Naomi felt no more at ease as Ayumi started to scream more erratic and irrational line's all with a wide smile on her face.

"Hey, what are you saying? Snap out of it." Naomi hesitantly put a hand on Ayumi's shoulder and shook lightly. She tensed as Ayumi's head turned to face hers.

"Hmm what's wrong Nakashima?" Ayumi's voice and facial expression in an instant turned back to their regular disposition.

Naomi was a little taken aback by her sudden retraction. She debated saying anything about or now. Would it really do any good to bring it up? 'It's probably just nerve's anyway, no reason to draw attention to it' Naomi thought hesitantly as she answered. "Um no it's nothing let's keep going."

Ayumi didn't say anything as they started walking again. They didn't get far before another outburst ensued. This time Ayumi started laughing hysterically before going back to moaning and then yelling seemingly different random words and phrases.

Naomi stepped away from her she was concerned but she was also scared more than anything and not at all sure what to do. She turned at the sound of an unfamiliar voice. There behind them was a red flame...they had been warned about these.

"That poor girl, she's lost her mind and she'll never get it back." It mocked them almost cheerfully.

Naomi looked back at Ayumi who she now noticed was staring dead at her with the look of pure rage on her face. Naomi flinched slightly but did not move until she felt a sharp sting on her right cheek. Ayumi had slapped her...hard she could already feel her cheek turning red.

"YOU BITCH, YOU THINK YOU CAN GET WHATEVER YOU WANT! HE DOESN'T BELONG TO YOU!" Ayumi screamed this so loud Naomi stumbled backward's more than she did from the slap. With nothing left to do she turned and ran only making it a small way away before tripping over some sharp wood sticking up from beneath the floorboards. Ayumi didn't fall far behind and at the sight of her angrily charging towards her Naomi couldn't stop herself from screaming as she tried to scramble to her feet.

Just as she stood herself up Ayumi threw herself towards her. Naomi barely managed to thrust herself to the side instead causing Ayumi to fall through a rather large hole in the floor.

Naomi let out a scream as she looked down the hole her class-rep had just fallen into quickly realising that she hadn't fallen all the way down and was still hanging on.

"Ah, hold on I'll get you up!" She may have not had the most strength but her adrenaline fueled mind combined with Ayumi's natural light structure she managed to pull her back up unintentionally pulling her into a sort of embrace as she hastily tried to get her away from the edge.

"Huh." Ayumi was confused as she came back to, seeing she was on the floor with a panicked Naomi. "Wh-what happened?!"

Naomi was still panting from all the action but glad to see Ayumi was no longer out to get her. "You're back?"

"Back? What does that mean?"

"Possession."

Naomi and Ayumi both simultaneously gasped and turned their heads at the sound of someone else speaking. It was a girl around their age with short black hair and cold blue eyes. She stood motionless observing the two.

"Possessed that's what that was?" Naomi asked the strange girl.

"It would appear so...it's not unlikely in a place like this with so many lost souls that some unlucky people would become the victims of possession. Maybe you have a connection with the spiritual world and that's why you were targeted and taken so easily." She said looking at Ayumi.

"You're Naho Saenoki, are you not?" Ayumi asked standing up. Naomi followed her lead brushing of her skirt as she did.

"Yes I am. You're familiar with my work?"

"Yes I'm quite the fan, I've been following you and your work for a while now, although the last I heard from you was on your blog. There's been no posts for a quite some time now." Ayumi's mind had been taken off the fact that she was just possessed at the sight of her idol. She had always hoped she would meet her...albeit under better circumstances.

"Thank you but I'm afraid you won't be seeing any more updates from me."

Ayumi looked at her questioningly as if to say 'how so?'.

"You see I've been dead for quite a while now."

"You died here?" Ayumi asked thinking she might have some how misheard her. If even a professional paranormal investigator and her own idol couldn't get out of here alive...what chance did the stand. "So there's no way out."

"Actually that's what I came here to talk to you about..."

Ayumi and Naomi hung on every word as she explained to them her theory of appeasement and how it could lead to the breaking down of these closed spaces and ultimately escape.

"Here take this." Naho held out a strange looking antique doll in her hand that Ayumi barely hesitated to take. "It belonged to the murderer, and I believe it's the key to this."

"The murderer?" Naomi repeated.

"Yes he is here too...I think that finding his remains is a good place to start, if you find them and return the doll to their side...everything'll be juuuuust fine."

Naho seemed to twitch slightly as she spoke and Ayumi became hesitant at following her words. But it seemed as good a place as any to start. "Ok, the quicker we get started the better then." With that Ayumi got ready to leave.

"Wait one more thing." Ayumi looked back at Naho. "If you come across any of the ghost's...don't try giving them the doll." Her eyes grew more sinister and her voice darker. "That won't work." And with that Naho disappeared leaving the two girls alone once again.

It wasn't long before the significance of this strange doll was uncovered. "Nakashima, do you hear that?...I think the doll's saying something somehow..." Ayumi held up the doll in front of her.

"It's crying...?" Naomi wasn't sure what to make of this. She looked at Ayumi who appeared to be thinking things over.

'There might be a reason it's started doing this now, I have an idea but I should at least get some kind of confirmation'. "Nakashima let's keep walking in this same direction for a bit and see if the doll does anything."

"O-ok then." Naomi said following behind Ayumi.

Surely enough just as Ayumi had suspected the doll started to weep louder. Ayumi stopped again explaining her theory without any preamble. "I think we may be able to use this a sort of tracking device, it might lead us straight to the murder's body! Or at least it's the best I've got...so either way we should keep moving."

"Alright, it's a start." Naomi answered just glad to have some direction.

It was when they were walking along the first floor that the doll done something other than weep.

 _from red door_

 _six steps horse_

 _thirteen paces rooster_

The two girls shared a look at each other and Ayumi was sure she knew what it meant.

* * *

After following the dolls instruction's they came across what appeared to be a slightly raised and loose floorboard. "Nakashima look I think something's under here." Ayumi said getting down on her knees and grabbing hastily at the jaggy planks of wood. After a bit of fidgeting Ayumi managed to pull up some sort of small bloody hemp bag. She shivered a little expecting it with a look of discontent on her face.

Naomi looked down at the bag and read the name tag attached to the front. "Ryou Yoshizawa" she said slowly. "It belongs to one of the children! ...but what is it?"

Ayumi held her breath hesitantly opening up the bag. "Ahh" she screamed throwing it down.

"What is it!?"

"It...It's a tongue...a human tongue." Ayumi answered trying to erase the image of the blood soaked and dried up severed tongue from her mind.

 _Return it_

 _Return it_

The doll could be heard repeating this weeping in between words.

"It's a boys name." Ayumi said as she started to cough, the sight of the bag itself was making her sick.

"Are you ok class-rep?" Naomi stared at her and then the bag which she wasn't willingly going to be looking into any time soon.

"I'll be fine thank you Nakashima, let's just do what the doll say's and return this to its rightful owner."

"I suppose that our best bet, but where do we find him? Naho hinted to the fact that they were here when she said don't give them the doll, but...we haven't even come across one yet. Where would we look?"

Ayumi thought on it for a second. "Honestly, I think we should just do what we've being doing here from the start, which is just look until we find."

"I guess...we better get started then...but um who's holding the tongue?" Naomi asked looking wearily at the blood soaked bag.

Ayumi followed Naomi's eyes to the bag that she had threw down and sighed. "...How about...we just take turns."

"That seems fair" Naomi hesitated a little not sure if she should continue with what she was about to say next. "I don't mind taking it first since you were the one who had to look in it." She wanted to play her part as well even if she didn't like the idea of having a severed child's tongue in her possession.

Ayumi smiled gratefully, relieved. "Thank you Nakashima, if you really don't mind then."

After that both of the girls had no trouble finding the next tongue, which proved easier to find than the ghost boy. The second one was located under another raised part in the floor at the bottom of a wall situated in between the science lab and the infirmary.

"Two down already" Ayumi said the exhaustion in her voice apparent. "My guess that it's another tongue in here" she pointed at the second blood soaked bag. There's probably four of them, one for each child killed which means we're halfway there."

"I think you're right, let's see this one says...Yuki Kanno, one of the girls although i'm not sure I remember which one." Naomi handed the bag to Ayumi since they had both agreed that they'd hold one each now that they had two.

"I'm not sure either, we should try to find that article again before we return them to be sure...that is if we have any luck finding the third one." Ayumi then looked over at the infirmary door which still had blood splattered over it. "Nakashima we haven't been in there yet."

Naomi looked at the infirmary door, they had been turned off of going in mostly because of the blood and last time they were around here Ayumi was possessed so it wasn't like they had that much chance. "You think we should?"

"I'd rather not but, we might be missing something, I don't want to risk that."

Naomi sighed and braced herself. "Alright let's just do it quickly."

They walked over to the door, only a small amount of blood had made its way onto the handle but it was still enough to put them off touching it. They looked at each other expectantly and just stared waiting for one of them to open it.

Naomi pouted a little before finally taking it upon herself to be the on to open the door which gave no resistance luckily since they hadn't actually considered that it might not even open. Stepping inside she felt her body temperature drop. She shivered breathing in the tainted air. Ayumi was hesitant but walked in quickly as she heard a gasp from Naomi.

"What is it?" She looked around spotting what it was Naomi had seen. There were two curtains seemingly in front of a bed, they couldn't make out exactly what was behind them but an unearthly blue glow was clearly visible.

Ayumi stepped around the curtain laying her eyes on one of the ghost children. He was crouched on the bed staring forward, he had blood coming from his mouth and although he was clasping his legs close to him some kind of large stomach wound could be seen from behind them. "Nakashima don't look into his eyes." Ayumi didn't know why she said this she just felt it as soon as she looked at him. Something bad would surely happen if they did. She then stretched her hand towards Naomi visibly quivering even as she spoke, "Give me the bag we need to make him notice it somehow."

Naomi shakily pulled out the pouch and handed it to Ayumi who slowly got up onto the first bed and shifted closer to the ghost boy who still hadn't moved an inch. 'Here goes nothing' Her whole body tensed as she held out the tongue bag in front of the boy's face, "Ryou Yoshizawa!" The ghost as if just noticing that he wasn't alone flinched as his eyes became wider. "I may not be able to sympathize with what you're doing, pulling innocents into a place like this...but this belongs to you...it's a part of your body so I'm giving it back to you!" There was a few painful moments of silence as he just stared at it before eventually holding out his hand and taking the bag. The tongue was returned to his mouth in an instant, faster than the human eye could see.

"Thank you." He said and with that he disappeared.

There was a sudden earthquake, it wasn't the biggest one but it still gave the girls a need to grab onto something to steady themselves.

The air, even if it was only the slightest change felt a little lighter. Ayumi exhaled holding onto her shaky arms. "It's not over there's still more of these we have to return" she said stepping off the bed.

"I know...class-rep...you did good, not most people could pull something like that off."

"Ha, thank's I was scared out of my mind you know, but if it means getting back to everyone..."

"Yeah I know."

* * *

"Yuki Kanno, that's this girl" Ayumi said pointing at the article they had went back to retrieve.

"Ok, now we just have to find her" Naomi said opening holding the door open as she waited for Ayumi.

Naomi stopped suddenly as she looked down the hall causing Ayumi to almost walk straight into her.

"Ehh, Nakashima what is it?" Ayumi looked down the hall to see the same girl they were just talking about standing there walking back and forth. "How coincidental." She then pulled out the tongue bag and held it front of her as they both without even having to confirm with each other walked up to the ghost a step at a time.

This one was a lot less catatonic and took notice to them quickly letting out different pained sounding gurgling noises. Just as she came over to them Ayumi suddenly yelled her name holding the bag right in front of her face. "This is yours, I'm returning it to you." The ghost girl stopped and stared just like the last one did.

'She's missing an eye as well...is this going to be enough?' Ayumi thought as it occurred to her.

…

...

They were both beyond relieved when she accepted the tongue placing it back inside her mouth. "Thank you...very much." There was a sudden flash of light before the girl simply disappeared.

"Thank God" Ayumi said feeling a weight being lifted off her. Her relief was cut off abruptly the start of another earthquake, heavier than the last one. The girls instinctively grabbed onto each other running over to a nearby wall for support. It only lasted about 30 seconds but by the end of it they had barely managed to keep themselves up.

"Is it over?" Naomi asked quietly steadying herself.

"I think so." Ayumi looked around, "Don't things feel different now...like changed maybe?"

Naomi looked around feeling the difference, thing's just weren't as heavy. Far from pleasant but it was an improvement. "Yeah they do...maybe we really are making progress...maybe we have a chance.


	4. Closed Space 4

Yuka Mochida walked carefully through the broken hallway, she had woken up in this place alone. She had called out for Satoshi, her big brother many times even louder when she came across the bodies, but he wasn't there, he was just gone. Yuka could remember him grabbing on to her during the earthquake when the floor broke so why weren't they together? Did she let go? Did they slip apart?

She stopped to read the label on a door, It read 'Music Room'. Yuka whimpered as she made the decision to keep walking, feeling she would have more luck finding someone else out in the open.

"Big brother, where are you? I'm scared...I don't want to be alone." Tears streamed down her face as she walked. She kept going until she came across something that gave her a small ray of hope, it was an entrance, she ran up to it not hesitating to try and pull it open. To her disappointment it wouldn't budge.

'I think it need's a key...' she though sadly, that meant she was going to be stuck in here longer. The air felt so thick, she hated it, each breath felt unnatural and her whole body just felt generally uncomfortable like it was out of place, being rejected.

Yuka turned and started to walk noticing something at the corner of her eye. She walked closer to the object realising it was a key, it was dark red and read 'Custodians closet'.

'This wasn't the key I was looking for but maybe I should take it just in case.' With that she pocketed the key and went about her search, moving to the next area.

She had entered a larger space which had large hastily placed holes in the floor and a boys bathroom to her right. Though neither of those was what Yukas attention was drawn to. Right there in the centre of the space was a large man, he was huge in fact, Yuka could only see him from behind but his hands which were wielding some sort of giant hammer were chalk white and his clothes were all a decomposing mess.

The hammer he held was currently being used to crush a clearly already dead person into smaller pieces, all that could be made out was chunks of the person's insides which were messily flattened and sprawled across the floor as well as part of an arm with the hand still attached which the large man had seem to have missed.

 ** _*Crunch* *Crack* *Squelch*_**

Horrible and unnatural noises were being emitted from the what was left of the corpse with each blow.

Yuka in her state of shock let out a loud whimper. The man stopped his hammer in the air mid swing bringing it down to his side and turning to the cowering girl that stood only a small distance away.

Yuka could now see his face clearly, looking back at her. It like his hands were chalk white, his eyes were completely red with no pupils at all, he was exactly what she would imagine a monster to look like in any of the horror movies that her mom wouldn't let her watch. The stench was putrefying, the sight was repulsive. Yuka froze in place just staring until the Zombie-like man started to make its way towards her, chunks of flesh that had been stuck to hammer fell to the ground and made of sort of splashing sound in perfect time with the sound of his large foot hitting the ground.

Yuka wasn't hesitating any more, letting out a scream she turned and ran, she ran all the way back from where she had came, past the entrance way, past the music room right up to the second floor.

 _Art room_ , Yuka looked at the sign briefly before running into the room which was luckily unlocked. 'It's really dark in here', she felt her way forward at first until her eyes adjusted just enough to make out some type of desk. She impulsively went over to it, hiding underneath. Now all she could do was sit and wait in this dark, cold room praying that she wouldn't be found.

'Big brother, please find me, save me.'


	5. Closed Space 5

_This place doesn't scare me half as much as it should, maybe I want it to so I can say I reacted like any other 'normal' person would react. These corpses there is something mesmerizing about them, but they were people once too, they were warm and had a heart beat and blood flowing through them and a mind of their own just like me! I will allow myself to be fascinated...but not take pleasure in what would have had to occur in order for them to end up like this. Should I be scared? ... She would be scared, I can't let her be alone in a place like this. She's much too pure for a hell like this, but it's OK I'm coming to find you...to save you._

"ᴍᴏʀɪsʜɪɢᴇ, Morishige!" Morishige who had being absentmindedly walking through the halls of the school was brought back to reality at the sound of his name. "Sorry I got a bit lost in thought for a moment."

Morishige had found himself in this place with their very own class T.A. It wasn't what he would consider a bad pairing, after all he supposed she was his favourite teacher...she was the only one who paid any attention to him. Not only that but she seemed to actually appreciate his intelligence whereas others usually mock him for it or accuse him of 'just trying to show off'. Idiots. He could respect her for the genuine concern she was showing for her students right now, he hoped that it was real and that her determination wouldn't dwindle the more time they spent here. It would come to no surprise to him though since he didn't expect much from humans in general, especially not adults. He had ever encountered one who hadn't been quick to show their true colours given the right circumstances.

"Oh that's ok, I just wanted to make sure you were alright." So far Yui had only been able to guarantee the safety of one out of her seven students. She felt horrible not knowing where they were, it was her job to protect them in any sort of crisis, not just her job but her whole purpose. It was personal now too, these were her children, she couldn't let them slip away from her.

She stopped walking as Morishige picked up a note from beside a corpse, she wondered how he could get so close to it and keep a straight face, 'I suppose he's always been that way, everyone deals with things differently after all'. "What is it?"

"It appears to be some sort of last testament, the final words of someone who knew they were going to die..." Morishige's voice didn't change much but his face showed that of remorse.

Yui went over to read the note as well but was having a hard time concentrating on anything but finding her students. 'They'll be ok won't they? They are a strong bunch...let's see...' Yui started to list of each student she assumed to be here too, she thought about them as an individual and how they would manage. 'Ok so Morishige is with me so I know he's ok, Nakashima is an assertive one at heart, she'll surely manage herself; Shinohara's always shown herself to be truly determined there's no way she'll give up so easily; Mochida's the same but I know he scares easily, although his little sister is here too, with that in mind there's no way he would let fear overcome him; Kishinuma will probably mimic Morishige in a sense, I doubt he'll scare too easily, I have faith he'll be able to think practically about this; Suzumoto, I can't even imagine her in a place like this she's the complete opposite of this type of malice, but I've seen her handle herself before...she always pulls herself back up. And Shinozaki, despite her love for horror culture she is truly a soft soul, but she's always surprising me and I'm counting on it that she will again. They'll be alright, so that makes my job bringing them altogether and making sure they get home safely. I can do that'.

" doesn't that look familiar?" Morishige having finished with the note had his attention drawn elsewhere, to a small burning candle that sat at the edge of a wall not too far from where they were standing.

Yui retreated from her thoughts and looked up at the object in question. "...that's...doesn't Shinozaki?" She wasn't able to finish her sentence as she went to inspect the candle.

Fortunately Morishige knew what she was trying to say. "Yes, I believe she carries them around with her often, she was using one tonight when telling us her ghost story." Morishige knew what this meant, that the other's were here, he wished that Mayu had something she could leave behind like this, just so he knew she was alright. "She's probably left this here so if any of us come across it then we know she's here and that she's alright." It was a good idea, he' give her that.

Yui done her best not to tear up at the sight, she was leaving this behind to show she was ok and it meant she had been here before, probably not too long ago. "She's a smart girl." Yui stood up and backed away from the candle, "We should keep going this way, this candle means she's here so we'll be likely to bump into her soon."

* * *

"How are you doing with all this Morishige?" Yui asked concerned about what a place like this could do to a person's mental state. No one this young should have to see thing's like this.

"I'm fine given the circumstances." Morishige wasn't too much up for small talk but could understand if it comforted her. He wasn't much considering the fact that she might actually care.

"I know...you're worried about Suzumoto, but she's a smart girl and mature enough to know what to do." Yui noticed Morishige's blank expression as she spoke. At first when she was new to all her student's he had been a hard one to get to know. (It was the same with Kishinuma, they reminded of each other sometimes.) Always so reserved and composed, Mayu was the only one who could break him out of it. But she wanted to know him too, he was always nice to her, and respectful but it had taken a while for him to actually show some trust. For Yui it was worth the wait as he proved to be an interesting soul with beautiful hobbies and aspirations. She has had one on one's with all of these students now, she knew them personally and they shared thing's with her they wouldn't share with other teachers. It was one of the many things about being a teacher that made her feel so accomplished, to gain their trust. She knew she had gained Morishige's trust and usually it showed, but right now he seemed almost as distant as he was when they first met and she wasn't sure she would be able to change that right now. It was this place, she wanted to get him out of it, she wanted nothing more than to get all of them out of it.

"I know I'm sure she will be fine, I would just like to see her for myself." Morishige didn't really want to talk out loud about it, each time he thought about her in this place he could feel himself grow more despaired. He had to find her and even if he couldn't admit it yet, right now it was him who needed her. With every second that went by not knowing if she was alright there was more weight added to his heart, without her it was growing heavier and heavier and _it would only get worse the longer they spent apart, he had to find her she couldn't be alone he couldn't be alone whatifsomethingbadhappenstoherwhatwillhedothenwhatifshegetshurtwhatifshedieswhatif-_

"Oh look Morishige this door open's we should have a look inside" Yui said slipping the door of a classroom open.

The first thing the both noticed when they entered the room was the stench, it was completely overpowering and caused their stomachs to turn.

They both looked at the decomposing corpse on the other side of the room. It appeared to be the remains of a male highschool student.

"Morishige we should make our search in here a quick one, unless you want to wait outside?" Yui wanted nothing more to leave this room but she also didn't want to miss anything.

Morishige tore his eyes off the body to look at his teacher. "...No that's alright we'll be much faster in clearing this room if it's the two of us."

"Ah I guess you're right, let's get this over with...along as you're alright." She gave him a reassuring look and hurriedly began scoping out the cabinets in the room. She spoke as she searched ignoring the disgusting clumps of long black hair in the first cabinet. "We should work more on getting out on this place, the faster we search the faster we'll find everyone else and _be able to find a way out of this place together_ _ΔΩҜĦǤ₣ΔЖβ_

Somewhere in the middle of Ms Yui talking Morishige got swept back into his own thoughts and her words started to sound like gibberish before they just sunk away. He didn't mean it and it was actually quite rare for him, he usually listened to what people where saying especially to his teachers and more especially to Ms Yui since she was one he respected and maybe even admired for the most part. But he just couldn't help himself not with the body so close to them with so many visible wounds.

Morishige ended up just nodding and began looking under and on top of the particularly small desks. He looked at the body again noting down in his head the visible injuries. 'There seems to be visible lacerations on the wrists indicating they were probably tied up at some point, there are also cuts on the neck but I don't think they would be deep enough to cause death, no the vertical cuts in the back of the leg's are probably the cause of that. I imagine it would have been extremely painful. I'm guessing they put up a fight considering how roughed up he is.' Morishige continued to analyse the body in his head like he had been doing with every other one he saw since they got here. He wasn't sure why maybe studying the wounds until he came to a probable cause of death was some sort of comfort for him. Possibly because in doing so he could be sure he still had his wits about him, a clear enough head that he could still calmly assess things, and he supposed that meant he still had _his_ _𝚜𝚊𝚗𝚒𝚝𝚢._

Yui finished searching around the first part of the room and turned to Morishige who she caught staring at the body. She wasn't stupid she knew this place was getting to him, the need to stare at them wasn't an insane idea to her, everyone copes differently and at seeing something he has never once laid eyes on in his life, especially one with so many unidentifiable looking injuries it wasn't completely surprising he would want to look at them, maybe so his brain could try to process it. She wasn't scared but she was worried. It only made her more determined. "Morishige, you find anything?"

Morishige turned seeing her looking over, he hoped she didn't get the wrong idea. "No I don't think there's anything..." he looked at the body " _else_ in here."

"No I don't think so, let's go." Yui stood for a second waiting for him to come over and leave first just to be safe. That seemed to be the wrong move as the cabinet nearest to the door was suddenly ripped away from the wall and thrown down towards the floor by some invisible force. "Morishige stop!" She grabbed him and pulled him back with strength she didn't know she had. The cabinet landed with a thud and in front of them, the fragile floorboards cracked up and the glass from the front of the cabinet was scattered amongst the floor.

Morishige gave himself a second to recover looking at the large mess in front of them, it would've have surely injured him severely, if not killed him. "How does that even happen...?" he turned around. "Thank you "

"That's ok, are you ok? Come on let's get out of here through the other door hurry." Yui spoke quickly she was now completely on edge. They had to be more careful, if she was only a second too slow...

Morishige turned to look at the body one more time as they left the room 'how unfortunate...what a truly pitiful place this is'.

As if on cue as soon as they left the room..."Do you feel that?" Morishige asked...there was silence until a small vibration could be felt. "It's an earthquake!" Yui said with a gasp. They both grabbed at the wall and prepared for the worst as the ground started to rumble.

Luckily for them it turned out to be a small one It ended only after what felt like a few seconds later, not leaving much impact.

Morishige pushed himself away from the wall and looked around. "Doesn't something feel different?"

"Hmm how so?" Yui was just grateful it was a small one not taking notice to what Morishige was referring to.

"Never mind probably just my imagination" he said pushing up his glasses. He wasn't really sure if he was imagining things or not it was just..the atmosphere, it still stunk of deep dread and there was no doubt about the cruelty this place held...but he could swear it felt...lighter.

* * *

"You're worried about everyone?" Morishige asked noticing how tense was, he knew it usually comforted people to talk in distressing situations so he thought he'd give it a go. It was surely what Mayu would do.

Yui had been silent most of the search, the cabinet incident still had her on edge...there was no way that just fell by itself. "Yes I just don't want anyone to get hurt." She realised as she was speaking that she shouldn't share too much, she was supposed to be the level-headed adult and couldn't let her emotions take over. "But everything will be fine I'm sure..."

"Yes, I'm sure it will." Morishige's voice came out rather monotone but part of him was really trying to give comfort. Even if it was only out of custom.

"Morishige, if you're worried too...or scared, you don't have to keep it to yourself, not with me. This place, it's not right, its different and I'll understand anything it's making you feel. I want everyone to be ok...I want you to be ok, not even just physically, I want to know that we'll all be ok even after this. That I'll get you through it. That we'll all get through it _together_.

Morishige continued to look straight ahead as they walked.

"...I have faith you'll see her again." Maybe she shouldn't be bringing it up but Yui just wanted to do something. He seemed so lost and it was hurting her.

"..." There was a long silence as Morishige thought about everything. Firstly he knew she was trying to help, secondly he wasn't always the most optimistic type but this was Mayu and he wanted to believe that they'd find each other safe and sound more than anything. She was the closest person to him in the world after all and that's not a title one is given easily. He didn't know exactly why, it wasn't really like him at all but... he chose to trust in her words and believe it would be ok. "Thank you."

Yui was surprised not only that he said anything at all, but at what he said. It was hard to read his expression as usual and she couldn't be sure what was going on in his head but she felt better, even if only a little.

They both walked past another body. Morishige kept looking ahead.

* * *

* _Gasp_ *

Yui stopped walking and put her arm out to indicate to Morishige should too.

They stared straight ahead of them. It was probably the most shocking thing they had seen in this place and that was saying alot.

There walking aimlessly in the middle of the hallway was a little girl, though not a regular little girl, she was glowing an unsettling and mystifying blue not to mention everything from the jaw up was completely missing. They both knew she was clearly a ghost but it wasn't an easy thing to comprehend.

The girl turned in their direction, she had no eyes but they could still tell she was looking at them, she knew they were there. Without warning the girl started coming towards them and Yui's instincts told her that nothing good would come from letting her get to them.

"Morishige turn back! Run now!" He did as she said and the two started running away from the girl.

Morishige was a little ahead but he was sure he could hear the sound of Yui's heels tapping off the floor as they ran. Eventually he decided to take his chances and stop, he was sure they had to be safe by now and it's not like he was ever much of an athlete so he wasn't sure he could go much further anyway. Turning around he saw that he was no longer being chased, there was no sign of the ghost...there wasn't sight of anyone, Ms Yui wasn't there any more either, he was sure she was there. 'She couldn't have been caught I'm certain I would have heard that.' Now he was conflicted...he should go find her, make sure she's alright, but he still had to look for Mayu she was top priority. 'Maybe I can look for both of them? It's not like I'd have to do any doubling back to find Ms Yui anyway so no harm done.' There was also the chance he'd have to deal with the ghost again if he went back in the same direction he had just came from, but he'd cross that bridge when he got to it. Right now he had people to find.

* * *

"Morishige! Morishige where are you?!" Yui's shouts echoed throughout the empty hall's. 'No where is he?! How am I supposed to find everyone and keep them all safe if I can't even keep track of the one I'm with!'

Yui didn't know how it happened but they had got separated, she didn't care about bumping into the ghost right now, she had to find him. Frantically running from hall to hall, retracing her steps, calling his name. It was proving to be a fruitless effort as five minutes passed and there was still no sign of him. For a second she just stood in place panting wondering what she could possibly do next.

"Excuse me Miss do you need help?"

Yui gasped and turned to face the quiet voice, there was a little girl with long black hair and unsettlingly pale skin, she wore an unusual tore up red dress. Yui thought she looked dead and considered that might be a possibility, but her eyes held so much innocence that she felt compelled to trust her. "Y-yes I'm looking for my student, we got separated not long ago...are you ok? what's your name?"

The girl seemed to like the question proudly announcing that her name was 'Sachiko', though her expression grew sad almost instantly."I've been separated from people too..." She looked like she was about to cry everything about her apart from her skin made her seem like an ordinary child.

"Don't worry we can look together if you want." Yui said calmly not wanting the girl to get any more upset.

Sachiko made a small hum of approval. "Miss does the person you're looking for have glasses?" she asked in a childlike manner.

"Hmm, yes he does how did you know?"

Sachiko gave a small innocent laugh. "I think I saw him! I know where he is! Come with me I'll show you." She smiled happily and motioned for Yui to follow.

With nothing to lose and no signs that she should feel threatened yet she made the quick decision to follow. She didn't want to be naive but, if it turns out the girl really did know where he was she may be passing up a perfect opportunity to reunite. Yui wasn't willing to risk it. So she followed and she walked alongside the happy little girl with no thoughts of turning back.


	6. Already Dead

It had felt like a long time since she encountered the monster but there was no way she was ready to move. Yuka remained under the desk curled up attempting to find the strength to leave this room. She wondered if she even stood a chance out there...she could end up just like the person she saw, nothing more mass of insides. She could die.

 _*Creak*_

"Ah" Yuka let out a whimper but quickly covered her mouth. Someone was in here, surely if it was the monster it would have made a lot more noise though...it couldn't be him. There was suddenly light as a bright beam began swinging around the room - 'a flashlight'? She thought, her breathing becoming more frayed.

..."Hey! Is someone there?!" A females voice echoed throughout the room, her tone sounded firm and serious but there was a small croak that indicated... she was scared.

Yuka couldn't hold back her heavy breathing any longer, she wasn't sure she recognized the voice but it sounded like a person not a monster. She had to take her chances. "Yes...I'm sorry if I scared you...I was hiding from the man with the hammer."

The girls swung her torch toward the sound, 'It's...just a kid' she thought to herself. She was relieved but also sad, it was disheartening to see someone so young in here. "It's okay, I didn't mean to scare you either...I saw him too, must've been pretty scary for you."

Yuka nodded her eyes straining to adjust to the new light source.

The girl noticed and moved the torch to the side a little. "You're not hurt are you? How come you're alone?"

"No, I'm okay...I'm looking for my big brother we got separated when we got here..."

"I'm looking for people too, my friends, come on how about we search together?" It's not like she could leave her alone like this.

Yuka thought about and nodded anything was better than being alone and this girl seemed nice.

"Come on out of this room then, we'll introduce ourselves properly." The girl waited for Yuka to come out from underneath the desk and shone the torch in front of her so they could both get to the door.

Yuka's eyes stung a little from being in the darkness so long, but once they had adjusted she could finally get a look at who she had been talking to. The girl was a highschooler clearly, her uniform was an ordinary white sailor outfit with a green collar, red bow and a green skirt. Her eyes were turquoise and she had brown hair tied into a ponytail with a white bow.

"I'm Tohko Kirisaki, I'm a student at Byakudan High." She said softly taking in the appearance of the very young looking girl. 'How many more people are trapped here?' She wondered bleakly.

"I'm Yuka Mochida, I'm from Kisaragi Academy Junior High." She said a little more cheerfully, being happy that she now had someone she could search for her big brother with.

"Well Yuka how about we go have a look for my friend's and your big brother?" Tohko couldn't deny that she was also happy not to be alone, she hadn't seen a single one of her friend's since she arrived. She could've sworn she heard Mitsuki but that was it. It's not like she could leave Yuka by herself anyway, In a place like this. She had seen the bodies and the monster and the spirits she knew how dangerous this place was.

Yuka smiled at Tohko, nodding again as they started walking.

* * *

"Did you do the charm as well?" Tohko looked at Yuka sympathetically, she had to assume that was how they had ended up here. If Yuka had done the charm it just solidified the theory. This wasn't fair at all, all she wanted to do was spend time with her friends. She didn't deserve this.

Yuka thought on it. Her big brother's friends did to a charm right before they came here didn't they? And she joined in. 'That's the cause of this'. She thought sadly, she didn't think anything of it at the time. "There was a charm, with a paper doll...I thought it would be fun to join in since my big brother and his friends were doing it. I even still have the paper scrap."

'So she done the charm too, that settles it then'. Tohko gave a light sigh, momentarily looking down at her feet. "Yeah, I thought it would be fun too..."

Yuka felt bad about Tohko's downtrodden expression, she didn't blame her, she was sad too. Besides that Yuka straightened up and did her best to lift her spirits. "It's okay, once we find everyone else we'll figure out how to leave, it's not like it can be impossible."

Tohko couldn't help smile at Yuka's attitude, there was an uplifting air of innocence around her that compelled her to put on a brave face. She couldn't let herself drag Yuka down into despair with her. "No you're right Yuka, thanks."

Yuka smiled feeling like she had done her job. Tohko's eyes went to a piece of paper on the wall. "Let's have a look at this."

It was marked with blood and what might be nail marks.

 _No running in the halls_

It made Tohko feel uneasy.

"Tohko!" A voice sounded from behind them.

Tohko turned at the sound of her name. "Emi! Kurosaki!" Emi and Tohko both ran over and hugged each other both beyond relieved.

"I'm so glad we found you, we haven't seen anyone since we got here." Emi said trying to get across her frustration. She looked behind Tohko at Yuka who was watching, still standing at the wall beside the poster.

Tohko looked behind her where Emi was looking. "Right, this is Yuka Mochida, she's been trapped in here too, she's looking for her older brother. And Yuka this is Emi Urabe and Kensuke Kurosaki some of the friend's I was telling you about."

Yuka straightened up a little. "Um hello nice to meet you" she greeted in a small gentle voice.

"Wow didn't expect to see anyone this young in here" Kurosaki said growing more weary of this place by the minute.

"When we found each other Yuka was hiding from the monster with the hammer...did you see him too?" Tohko asked.

Emi and Kurosaki looked at each other confused they had seen a lot of things in here but that wasn't one of them. "Monster?" Emi asked hesitantly.

"Yes monster he's like this big guy with chalk white skin and red eyes...he's like a zombie." Tohko spoke as if it was obvious. She couldn't believe they had been lucky enough not to encounter him.

"We haven't seen him Kirisaki but I'll take your word for it." Kurosaki said giving Tohko a nod.

They looked at each other for a second before Emi spoke up. "There's an exit have you seen? It's locked but if we could find a key..."

"I saw it, Yuka said she did too, but no signs of a key." Tohko answered somberly.

"Then we'll put that on the list of things to keep our eyes out for including our friend's and your brother Yuka." Kurosaki said with a smile, his optimism was contagious, everyone else smiled and they all agreed to start their search.

While they searched Yuka found herself liking them more, she hoped that when they met up with her group they would all be able to get out together. They tried to engage in conversation with her to keep things familiar and things were going well. It wasn't one sided, they were being uplifted by her just as much as she was them. Though the thoughts of her big brother still lingered on her mind, at least now she had help, and hope.

* * *

"Ahhhhhhhhhhh"

Emi let out blaring scream, she covered her mouth, her whole body froze up in shock.

The others were lost in conversation, it took them a second to realise what she was looking at. Yuka stopped and stared at the corpse, she retched a little at the sight doing what she could not to cry. It was so fresh. This wasn't their first corpse though, Yuka noticed their reaction was different from the rest. 'Did they know each other'? Yuka despite wanting to look away examined the corpses clothing. 'It does look like the same blazer Kensuke is wearing' she thought shivering and looking up at Tohko and Kurosaki to determine their reactions. They both looked horrified.

"Urabe don't look" Kurosaki said putting a hand on her shoulder and trying to lead her back to Tohko.

"It's Fukuroi?" Tohko said half asking half stating. She looked down at the corpse which was lying face down with pools of blood all over his back and rips in his blazer. It look liked he had been stabbed multiple times.

Kurosaki had never felt lower in his life, to see someone you had known for so long, someone you had been with only a few hours ago mutilated like this. It was just too cruel. He looked back at the girls, Emi was a shivering mess and Yuka was torn between looking and not looking completely horrified, Tohko didn't appear to be falling apart yet but if they stayed here any longer... Kurosaki took a shaky breath. "Come on this way...it's not right to stare at him." The others didn't refute and they walked away from the corpse to another area.

There was a few minutes of silence.

"What the hell is wrong with this place...? Who would do that?" Tohko finally said sounding more sad than angry.

Kurosaki looked at her. "I don't know...we just...we have to get out of this place as soon as we ca-."

There was a noise from behind him, Kurosaki turned quickly. "Kizami?"

There was a another student, much taller than the rest with black hair and grey eyes. He stood with his blazer flung over his shoulder. Yuka knew this must be another one of their friends. His eyes lingered on her for a second, there was a subtle change in his expression - a look of surprise? awe? fascination?...wanting? - the look only lasted a split second before he looked back to his friend.

"Kurosaki! It's good to see all of you are alright." He had a strong and calm voice that matched his demeanour. It was all very daunting but Yuka did not feel scared.

Kurosaki let relief fill him, seeing his best friend alive, it was a reassuring sight after what he had just witnessed. "You too man, it's good to see someone else alive. This damn place...whatever it is, has ghost's in here! Honest to god real ghosts!"

Tohko's face also lit up at the site of Kizami, she stepped closer beside Kurosaki to get a better look at him. Emi was standing behind them with her shoulders hunched over, glad to see someone else from the school but still not over what they had saw. "Yuuya, I'm glad you're okay." Tohko said suddenly sounding bubblier, she felt instantly safer now.

Kizami nodded at Tohko somehow giving her a soft look whilst barely changing his moderate expression. "I've seen them" He said replying to Kurosaki's spiel. "I've yet to find a way out of here...if there is one."

Emi shivered at his words.

Kurosaki's expression changed to sadness. "Have you been there yet?" He jerked his head towards the direction they had came from, in the next space was Fukurois body.

"Yes I think I was in that area a while ago." The way he said it indicated that he mustn't have seen the body yet.

Kurosaki sighed inwardly not wanting to give the news, or even have to say it out loud. "It's Fukuroi...we saw him...dead." He looked at Tohko's sullen expression and back to the clearly traumatised Emi. "I think it's best we avoid going that way for as long as we can. You don't want to see that anyway."

Kizami mocked a dismal expression. "I see, that's terrible. I'm sorry you had to find him like that." He paused thoughtfully. "I agree then, best we look in other areas." He wasn't sad, far from it, but when he simulated his sad expression and spoke his words of condolences. Part of him didn't even know he was acting. Kizami's eyes were drawn back to the stranger, the little girl who hadn't said a word. He wanted to know more about her.

As if reading his thoughts Kurosaki looked at Yuka reminding himself that she and Kizami had never met. "Oh yeah, this is Yuka Mochida, she's looking for her big brother and his classmates. We decided we should all look together. The more people the better."

On the inside Kizami was smiling, the fact she was looking for her big brother set signals off in his head, for a second he felt detached from his body, like he was looking down at it from above. On the outside his expression remained the same. "Yes, that's true we're better off helping each other." He looked at Yuka dead in the eyes. "I'm sure we can help you find your big brother, no doubt in no time."

Yuka smiled, liking him more already. Tohko was smiling too at how reassuring he was. It would all be better now. No more dead familiar faces, no more fear. They'd find their way out. This was a sign of better things to come.

Emi didn't say much, unlike the rest of them the fear was strong and at the forefront of her mind. She didn't share the same images of hopeful outcomes that her friends did. But she wanted to, so she tried focusing on the positives, like her not being alone, or how she was still alive. Emi did her best to remain calm and strong. If her friends weren't losing their minds then neither should she. 'It'll be okay' she told herself, repeating it in her head until she believed it.

* * *

The group kept going. Tohko and Emi staying close to each other in the front, comforting one another, trying to remain lighthearted. Kurosaki was in the middle on high alert, he didn't feel like his usual self at all, like this place was pulling him away from himself. Kizami had opted to getting to know Yuka, they were talking in the back. He asked her about the charm, and how she was doing and often asked if she was alright, he seemed to sympathize completely.

Kizami looked at the others, all in their own world, definitely not listening to his conversation. He looked down at Yuka solemnly. "Yuka, it's not just my friends in here, coincidentally my little sister is in here too. I must find her soon." His voice was sad and genuine.

Yuka looked up in shock, she felt really bad for him now. "Your sister...? I'm sorry, I hope you find her."

"Thank you" he said sounding distant. "And I'm sure we'll find your big brother as well."

Yuka held her arm shyly. "Thank you, I hope so." Her voice was shaky since she was talking to a person she didn't know too well, but it wasn't because of fear. The only thing she was really scared of right now was the monster with the hammer. She hoped that she wouldn't be left behind if he came. That this group would protect her.

"Crap" They heard Tohko say from the front. Kizami stepped forward. "Is there a problem?"

Tohko didn't have to answer as Kizami took notice on the rather large cupboard blocking their path.

'Does this mean we have to go back?' Yuka though nervously.

Kizami to Yuka's surprise with minimal looking effort picked it up and pushed it back up against the wall. 'Whoa'.

Tohko beamed at the sight. "Wow, good work Yuuya, now we don't have to go back."

Kurosaki looked impressed as well. "Yeah nice one Kizami."

He didn't react much to the praise, just nodded as they continued.

* * *

There was an earthquake but it didn't last all of thirty seconds. Kizami showed concern for Yuka during and after it. She appreciated it and was glad to have found such good people. Yuka quickly forgot about the earthquake, taking no notice to the change in the air.

* * *

"Okay so we'll check this classroom and you two check that one." Tohko said looking at Kurosaki and Emi. She wanted to be with Yuuya and also didn't want to leave Yuka. They had decided that for only a minute they'd search different rooms, it seemed like a waste to have their whole group check one spot. They'd never get anywhere like that. The classrooms were pretty much right next to each other anyway so Tohko didn't exactly see it as 'splitting up'. It was actually Kizami's suggestion and Tohko completely agreed that it was a good idea.

Emi at first thought it would make more sense for the her to go with Tohko and Kizami with Kurosaki, since those pairs were closer to each other, but then she remembered Tohko's crush on Kizami and thought it best to do the sisterly thing and let them search together.

"Got it" Kurosaki said casually before walking to the door of the classroom. Emi followed him and the other group did the same, heading to the next classroom over.

Tohko started to become disappointed when their search went on in silence. She had to find something to say. "This place is insane right? I mean it's got me so on edge."

Kizami acknowledged Tohko's conversation grunting slightly. "I agree it's terrible." He turned his attention to Yuka. "You must be frightened?"

"I am but it's not as bad now that I'm not by myself." She was trying to sound convincing but her voice was still quiet. The classrooms were worse for her. Seeing the tiny desks and breathing in the unusual air.

Tohko admired Kizami's attitude towards Yuka. He really was good with her. She stopped as her eyes caught onto something. She let out a gasp. "Oh my god I think I found they key." It was exceptionally bigger than most keys and despite the rust seemed usable.

"That's Good nice find." He said this in the same distant tone he always uses but it still made Tohko's heart jump.

Kizami stepped away from where he was searching. "That's what we were looking for so let's go tell- "

"AHHHHHHHHHH"

He was cut of by a scream, Tohko jumped and let out her own small scream. "Yuuya I think that was Emi!"

The three of them hurried out of the room, Tohko put the key in her pocket as they left.

At the same time they saw Kurosaki burst out of the other classroom. "Urabe! Wait what's wrong!" Kurosaki shouted after Emi who was running away frantically.

"Kurosaki! What happened?!" Tohko yelled running towards him. He stopped and looked at them his eyes widened, panting. "I don't know she just started freaking out and wouldn't let me touch her. I was at the other side of the room. I don't know what happened!" He spoke quickly stammering over some words.

"We have to go get her!" Tohko said looking in the direction Emi had ran in.

"You're right, Kurosaki and I will go find her you and Yuka wait here." Kizami said already speed walking away.

Tohko's brain glitched for a second before she could answer. "Wait what? Yuuya wait!" Kizami, and Kurosaki who had followed suit were already out of sight. Tohko and Yuka were left standing there alone.

* * *

"Okay so we'll check this classroom and you two check that one."

"Got it."

Emi followed after Kurosaki who held the door open for her as they entered the classroom. She already wanted to get out of here, it didn't feel good. She felt sick.

"How 'bout I check this side and you check over. That okay Urabe?" Kurosaki asked his eyes scanning the eerie room. He looked back at her when she didn't answer noticing her pale face. 'Must still be shaken from earlier'. "Unless you want to stay closer than that?"

Emi snapped out of her daze quickly composed herself. "Oh, sorry that's okay we'll be out of here faster searching different sides." She gave a forced smile trying to reassure him."

"If you're sure."

There was a note on Emi's side of the room. _Victims Memoirs_. She read the full thing, it was horrible, some poor person's gut wrenching story about...she couldn't remember, she had just read it but already she couldn't remember. Emi gave it another look, the words were different now. _diediediediedie_. She blinked and it was different again. It was memoirs again, but not just anybody's, her own. She was confused as her own life and what she knew it to be started to twist and mesh with the words on the paper. 'Did that really happen?! Did I really do that? I don't remember! Who am I?' Emi looked at it again, the words were the same but the hand writing was different, it was her own.

"AHHHHHHHHHH"

Emi or whoever she was ran, right out of the room ignoring the confused Kurosaki. She had to get away, she couldn't be here. Emi kept running until she turned a corner stopping instantly almost in a robotic manner. A little girl in a red dress was looking back at her, grinning. There was a noise from behind her, heavy footsteps, grunting sounds. She didn't turn or run, her eyes were fixed to the little girl, she stared right into her eyes, unmoving before there was a cracking sound right in her ears. The sound of her own skull shattering. She shouldn't have been able to hear the should she? Her body dropped and her vision went red. Emi was upset because she thought her glasses might be broken, her mom was going to be so mad.

 _*Bang*_

The hammer dropped again, assurance that this girl would not get back up ever again.

* * *

"Urabe! Urabe! Wait!" Kurosaki ran around the corner tripping over at the sight of Emi laying dead with her head cracked open. "Ahhhhhhh." He pushed himself back away from her as Kizami turned the corner.

Kizami didn't scream, he just looked at her body with soulless eyes. Of course Kurosaki couldn't see that.

Kurosaki stood himself up doing his best to keep his balance. He stood slouched looking at Emi who was with him only a minute ago. He rubbed his face exhaling loudly. "No, no no! God I should have kept my eyes on her. How the hell am I supposed to tell Tohko about this!?"

It was at that moment, at the sight of Emi's lifeless eyes that Kizami made a decision.

There was a shuffling sound from behind him that Kurosaki ignored while he tried and failed to wrap his head around the sight.

"It's okay Kurosaki, I can tell her." Kizami reassured him as he lifted up the strong and sturdy plank of wood to the back of Kurosaki's head.

Kurosaki was going to speak again, or at least Kizami was sure he was before the wood made contact with the back of his head with tremendous force. It was the last thing Kurosaki had expected, he let out a loud groan before falling face flat on the ground. He blinked away his blurry vision and attempted to push himself back up in his dazed state.

 _*Smack*_

Another painful hit was delivered and then another, his his arms fell back to his side. He could feel the blood streaming down his forehead as he coughed weakly. He felt himself being turned, Kizami rolled him over flat on his back so that he could see his face and look into his eyes.

"Ki-Kizami, why?" Kurosaki barely whispered as he looked into his best friends eyes. They were vacant, the Kizami he knew wasn't there anymore, as If he was never really there to begin with.

Kizami laughed at the sight and the question. "Why-WHY?!" He practically spat the words. "Because you're a liar! Fake! This is what you get for using me, for thinking you were ever equal to me!" He leaned down to roll Kurosaki back over.

Kurosaki felt the strong taste of blood in his mouth and the pulsating wound at the back of his head. But mostly he felt anger, betrayal.

"Bastard" he managed to choke out.

Kizami sneered at the insult bringing the wood back up and driving it full force into Kurosaki's skull, he lost count of how many times he did it, but when he was done Kurosaki's body was completely limp and his face covered in blood. He was right next to Emi's body and most people would assume that it was the same culprit for each considering the similar wounds, that worked for Kizami, it was kind of perfect actually. Everything was perfect.

It's not like what he did mattered. As soon as he had seen Emi's dead stare he knew, no one was getting out of here alive. So what difference did it make who did the killing? "Being killed by the school, or by me...it's the same...you're all already dead." He said to himself out loud, hand through his hair with drool and sweat down his face. ...₱ɆⱤ₣Ɇ₵₮

* * *

"God where are they?!" Tohko asked herself as she paced back and forth a hint of fear in her voice. She looked at the scared Yuka and stopped. "Sorry, I'm being over paranoid, they'll be okay, it was probably just a misunderstanding. Plus Yuuya wouldn't let anything happen to her, he's a good man."

"Y-Yeah" Yuka said quietly.

Tohko took another shot at reassurance. "I found the key right, so when they get back we'll go to the exit, we might find a way out of here, we might even run into your brother." Tohko didn't know what she expected to happen when they got to the exit, but it had to be better than this.

Yuka gave a weak smile. "Yeah and maybe Kizami will find his little sister."

Tohko paused her thoughts wondering if she had heard Yuka right. "...Little sister?" Did Yuuya have a little sister that he had never told her about? Even then it's not like she would be here, the only people who did the ritual were her classmates.

Yuka was confused at Tohko's confusion. "Yes... he said his little sister was in here too...is she not?"

Tohko opened her mouth to speak but only a small sound came out as she scrambled for something to say. 'Yuka must have misheard him...' some kind of mix up was really the only way that what she had just said could make any sense. Tohko and Yuka looked each other in the eyes before Tohko found her voice and slowly croaked out "He doesn't have one."

There was the sound of a floorboard creaking they both let out a startled gasp and looked over to see Kizami standing there, watching them. 'Was he listening to us?' Tohko thought. He looked like himself but his eyes were hollow and there was blood on his usually stainless white shirt.

"Yuuya! Are you okay? Oh my god what happened?" Tohko rushed over to him. She almost put her hand on his arm but stopped herself.

Despite his hollow eyes his voice was the calm one it always was. "I'm okay...but I'm afraid I have bad news." He kept his head in the same position but aimed his eyes down at the floor feigning sadness. "There was a monster...the one with the hammer Yuka mentioned...he got to Urabe and then Kurosaki as he went to help her. I tried to help them but he overpowered me and pushed me away before I could stop him...I don't know why he didn't kill me too...I'm sorry there was nothing I could do." Kizami kept his voice leveled the whole time, it took everything in him not to laugh. The 'monster' Yuka mentioned, he had saw it himself already but was able to avoid it, he assumed it must have been what killed Emi so it's not like it was all a lie.

Tohko let out a sound of pain, her knees bent but she did not drop to the floor. She wrapped her arms around herself and let tears run down her face as her breathing became more intense.

Yuka came up to them. "Tohko are you okay?" She asked as her own tears formed in her eyes. The monster with the hammer did this, the exact same thing could have happened to her or still happen. She shook with fear as she watched Tohko cry. Kizami just stood there watching.

...

...

It must have taken a good 20 minutes for Tohko to calm down. She was leaned up against the wall looking wearily at Kizami her chest rising up and going back down in an irregular manner. Yuka noted a look in her eyes, she didn't know what it was, just sadness maybe, but maybe anger or something else like a word Yuka couldn't think of from the top of her head, like suspicion or ...

...doubt. Kizami noticed it. It was doubt. "Are you okay?" he asked evenly.

"I- no. But there's still more of us in here...we have to keep going...don't we Yuuya?". Her voice trembled on the last few words. She brought her hand to her chest debating whether to ask. Did it even matter now?

"Indeed." Kizami said. "I'm certain our friends wouldn't want us to waste away in here."

Tohko nodded but kept her eyes down and her back to the wall. "Yuuya...?"

"Hm what is it?"

Tohko hesitated, her eyes still on the floor. "When you were away, Yuka mentioned you were looking for your little sister...what does that mean?...I didn't know you had a little sister" She looked up at him, into his eyes and furrowed her brow as she noticed his face twitch.

Yuka watched Kizami's face change, she watched Tohko's change too, she was looking at Kizami differently than she had this whole time. No longer with respect or longing but with impatience, distrust and fear.

The end of Kizami's mouth started to twitch up in an unusual manner. "What are you saying? Of course I have one...she's standing right there."

Yuka's blood ran cold. Tohko pushed herself off the wall and in front of Yuka, not directly in front just so she was in the space between the two. "What does that mean Yuuya? That's not your sister." The fear in her voice was finally evident, she sounded like she was on the edge of tears, or just on the edge of breaking altogether.

Kizami took a step closer to Tohko who stayed still her back straight and her neck held up high. She was confused, but she didn't want him to know she was scared. A part of her was waiting for a reasonable explanation, or him to say it was all a joke.

Yuka took a step back which Kizami took notice of. "What's wrong Yuka?"

Yuka whimpered and Kizami took another step towards Tohko.

"Stop!" Tohko shouted her voice cracking. Her body was starting to shake but she didn't move.

Kizami brought his attention back to her. "You're wrong, that's my little sister and you're standing in my way."

"Kizami, I'm not your sister." Yuka said almost voicelessly.

Kizami's face made it apparent that he was beginning to get impatient with both of them. "Yuka come here" He looked at Tohko. "Move."

Both of them were shaking now. "N-n-No Yuuya she's not your sister."

"YES SHE IS" Kizami shouted out of nowhere startling both girls. Tohko shook but didn't move. "No no NO SHE'S NOT." She shouted back with her weak, trembling voice.

The look in Kizami's eyes changed in an instant, no longer hollow now there was pure rage in them. "MOVE" He shouted raising his fist and punching the stunned Tohko in the face. She was completely unready for it, she had never been hit before, she screamed and fell back grabbing at her swollen face. Kizami wasn't done yet, as with Kurosaki he needed more, punching her several more times before Yuka ran up at him screaming for him to stop.

Kizami stood up straight taking a second to ignore Tohko who was sobbing now. There was a set of footsteps coming towards them. It was the monster again. Either Kizami didn't notice or he didn't care.

"Run Yuka" Tohko said, sobbing and choking as she tried to crawl away.

Kizami punched Yuka hard in the gut so that she doubled over, turned to Tohko grabbed her, pulled her up and threw her towards the monster that was still in pursuit of them. Tohko screamed and her weak body stumbled right into him.

Kizami ignored the sound's of screaming, pounding and choking coming from behind him as he calmly bent down and grabbed the back of Yuka's smock dragging her away.

By the time the monster was done with his beating they were gone and he didn't know where they had went.

Sachiko knew. She didn't want a boring repeat of the last time they were here. Sachiko had different plans for everyone, just to make thing's interesting.


	7. Allies

Yoshiki woke up to the feeling of absolute solidified dread. The black was in him making its way through his every pore, consuming him entirely. The school was ready to add to its collection.

"No get out of me! Aghh" He squirmed trying to regain control of his body. Yoshiki may have felt like absolute shit, there may have been incontestable dread looming over him, but that didn't mean he was ready to let go and he definitely wasn't about to let this school have him. Yoshiki still had things he had to do and people he had to protect.

"GET THE FUCK OUT OF ME."

With every ounce of strength he had Yoshiki pushed himself away from the wall, he didn't have control of all his limbs yet. He kicked and rolled unceremoniously on the ground trying to make his arms and legs his own again, it was like trying to wake up numb legs up after sitting in an uncomfortable position too long.

The black that was enshrouding him fought back not ready to give up its new host. Yoshiki closed his eyes and began attempting to spit it out. He didn't want to give it any entrances. His limited energy was diminishing rapidly. Yoshiki went limp for a moment taking a second to think things over. He realised it was inside of him, this was not a physical fight he had to push it out of himself from the inside.

So that's exactly what he did. It wasn't easy, this kind of darkness wasn't like anything he had ever experienced or ever prepared himself for. Mayu entered his head, when it happened he blamed himself, but it wasn't him it was the ghosts, the very school itself. Letting this thing in wasn't going to reverse what happened it would only mean that if the same was going to happen to any of his other friends he wouldn't be able to do anything about it. 'You can't have me asshole! You can't have any of us!'

Yoshiki wasn't weak, It was only through the sheer shock of seeing his friend die in front of him and in such a brutal way that gave the darkening it's opening, but an opening that could be closed with enough will power.

Yoshiki screamed out, his body spasming painfully. The black mist was being brutally rejected by his body. It was spat out only to float away and dissipate.

Yoshiki lay there on the floor looking up at the ceiling breathing heavily. There was something different about where he was, it was the same but different. The air wasn't the same. The wall's might have even been a different colour, but he wasn't sure. Yoshiki turned his head to the side, the blood left behind by his classmate was still there, spread all across the wall and partially on the infirmary door. He continued to pant looking back up at the ceiling. The darkness had left his body fatigued and worn down so he closed his eyes letting a different kind of darkness come over him. 'Just for a minute...then I'll find the others.'

* * *

Morishige hadn't encountered the ghost girl again but he hadn't encountered Ms Yui either, or anyone for that matter. This place was taking its toll on him again. There was a body back there, he took a picture. It was wrong he knew that but for so long he had searched for Mayu and Ms Yui. They weren't here, the only thing that was here were the corpses, and they were like nothing he had ever seen before. 'I'll delete it' he told himself but that was a while ago, it was still there just in case.

Morishige was certain he'd been in this hallway before, he might have searched everywhere by now. If so what now? Just circle this place again and again till the last of his sanity was stripped away. 'Maybe. And maybe it's for the best.' Morishige knew which rooms were which now, the one's that were locked and the ones that were useless. It was all becoming too familiar.

His footsteps echoed louder with each step as he passed them, he ignored the rooms knowing they had been searched. 'That was 2-A' he passed another one, 'that was 3-A' he kept walking, 'Science Lab' he thought, still no luck with that. Morishige made it into the hall with the infirmary, he had been here, more than once, but there was some big differences now. His eyes went to the blood on the wall. It was a magnificent horrid sight, he couldn't bring himself to imagine what had went down here. Morishige stared at it as if it was no big deal. Then he saw...another body?

Morishige walked up to him, he was covered in a lot of blood. "Kishinuma" he thought out loud. Morishige knelt down beside him trying to determine whether he was alive or not. At first glance it was hard to tell but he was indeed alive. That was good, Morishige and him had never been the closest of friends, actually Morishige was sure that if it wasn't for Mayu being friends with the class-rep then Kishinuma never would have bothered to look twice at him, but this was a classmate he would never wish ill will on any of them.

Morishige shook him lightly, it seemed to be enough. Yoshiki blinked awake, he pushed himself up confused at first, he looked around, the memories came flooding back. The only thing that was different now was Morishige who was looking at him curiously.

"...Are you okay, you're covered in an exceptional amount of blood...?" Morishige asked remaining composed.

Yoshiki's eyes flickered to the wall to his right, there was no way he could just tell him. Usually he was a pretty straight forward person, it didn't matter if it was unpleasant he knew it was better to get bad news over with. But this was different, Morishige might break and they'd never get him out of here. There would be a time when he had to tell him, but not now. Yoshiki ran his right hand through his hair using the other to hold himself up, "Yeah I'm okay, it's not my blood."

Morishige waited for him to elaborate but when he didn't he decided not to ask further, he was never one to pry and if Kishinuma wasn't going to say anything it wasn't his place to make him. "I was with Ms Yui for some time, we were separated and I haven't seen her since. Though somehow you're here now, which is odd I wonder how we missed each other."

Yoshiki was glad for the subject change, he pushed himself of the ground, Morishige followed his movements standing up himself. "Ms Yui, she's here then. How did you get separated?"

"There was a ghost, a young girl, she was missing the top half of her head, we sensed hostility and ran away, when I looked back Ms Yui was gone." Morishige explained thinking over the chase in his head. It still didn't make much sense how she had just vanished, but then again nothing in this place made sense. "Have you seen the ghost Kishinuma?"

Yoshiki winced at the mention of that ghost. He had already seen what these ghosts were capable of, If it got to Ms Yui he dared imagine what could happen to her. "Yeah I saw her, I saw three them, the ones from the newspaper."

"Newspaper?" Morishige repeated.

"Yeah the one about the kidnappings, you not seen it?"

Morishige shook his head and Yoshiki proceeded to explain what he had found. Turns out Morishige had to be caught up on more than that, he didn't know anything about the closed spaces either. Yoshiki knew he was lucky to have found someone who was willing to inform him.

Morishige wasn't happy to hear about the closed spaces. That could mean that he and Mayu weren't even in the same space which would make it that much more difficult to find her.

Yoshiki took another glance at the wall. Pretending she wasn't right there was making him sick. "Hey let's go. See what we can find. Maybe we'll come across Ms Yui. Anywhere you haven't been?"

"As far as I know I've searched every accessible place apart from the exit which won't open and the science lab which must need a key. Saying that I had been here many times and only now do I find you, so maybe we should keep re-checking areas."

Yoshiki sighed a little, shifting uncomfortably desperate to get a move on. "So what? We might have to retrace our steps until something shows up?" He said bitterly.

"Unless you have any other ideas" Morishige said.

Yoshiki went quiet. Morishige was right what else could they do? He sighed, haphazardly rubbing blood off his face with his sleeve. "...Let's get a move on then, see what we come across."

Yoshiki looked around the area discreetly as they left the hall. The doll wasn't there anymore. 'Good riddance' he thought, trying not to wonder why it would be gone. It didn't matter to them now.

* * *

It was no use, they searched again, even going into rooms they had already covered. Yoshiki noticed a few changes. Things like the article him and Mayu read not being there anymore, different bodies in different places and new signs on the wall. He tried not to overthink it, wouldn't do him any good.

"Do you feel that?" Morishige asked stopping and looking around tentatively.

Yoshiki stopped too, looking down at the floor he noticed a vibration. "Earthquake" he said irritated. Both of them looked around for something to hold onto, nothing was stable enough. As the earthquake persisted becoming more forceful Morishige leaned up against the wall hoping it would provide support, Yoshiki did the same.

Morishige noticed this one was bigger than the last, it lasted around 30 seconds this time.

Yoshiki pushed himself off the wall wearily once it was over rubbing his head. "We're getting nowhere with this, this school's just going to get worse and worse and we've made no progress." He kicked his foot at ground in frustration, his back to Morishige who was just now leaning off the wall.

Morishige pushed up his glasses. He couldn't say he disagreed and he didn't care much about Yoshiki's bluntness, actually he preferred it when people just got to the point, there was no need to be sensitive around him. "So what do you want to do Kishinuma?"

Yoshiki turned to him, Morishige didn't look angry didn't look sad or anything really, just like he always did. Yoshiki sighed, "I don't know" he admitted letting his hand drop form his hair to his side.

 _*Bang*_

Both their heads turned. Yoshiki took a few steps towards the direction of the noise and then looked back at Morishige. "What do you suppose that was?"

"Not sure..." He noticed Yoshiki's curious determined look. "Are you wanting to go see what it came from?

"May as well, no harm done right?" Yoshiki said.

"Well I certainly hope not." Morishige said spiritlessly walking towards the noise.

They looked around but there was nothing that indicted anything was here. "Something probably broke or fell because of the earthquake" Yoshiki said subtle exhaustion in his voice. Morishige didn't say anything so Yoshiki turned to him. He was leaning down trying to fish something out of a crack in the wall. "What is it? he asked going over to Morishige.

Morishige pulled the object out. The key read _Science Lab_. Morishige stood up and showed it to Yoshiki.

Yoshiki read the label, "Hm maybe we're finally coming across some luck in here."

Morishige eyed the key suspiciously, "Maybe, but it's rather coincidental. It's the exact thing we were looking for." He didn't know what he was trying to say. If someone had left it here for them to find then why? Plus it really could just be luck, but he never really believed in that.

"So what we don't use it? And if not then what?" Yoshiki asked.

Morishige looked at the key again. "Well I was never one to stare a gift horse in the mouth."

Yoshiki took that as a 'No we'll use it' and began heading off to the Science lab, checking to make sure Morishige was following.

Morishige caught up with Yoshiki and they both walked beside each other. "I'm surprised we haven't come across Ms Yui, makes me wonder what happened to her." Morishige said. This school frustrated him, it almost seemed like you could only come across people by luck or random chance. Kishinuma was nowhere to be seen when he and Ms Yui were together and then there he was.

"She's probably alright it's not like it would be hard to get lost in this place." Yoshiki replied trying hard not to sound pessimistic.

"Yes it's a large building but not never ending. You think we would have seen others after all this time. Unless every one of them is separated by these 'closed spaces' you mentioned."

"Hey don't sound so skeptical when you say that, that's what the spirit said and it makes sense since we've not come across anyone." Yoshiki only sounded slightly defensive.

Morishige almost smiled. "Sorry not my intention. And on that note I forgot to mention that Ms Yui and I came across one of the class rep's candles earlier, I'm sure she left it there so we'd know she was here." Morishige said this casually like it was nothing while Yoshiki almost fell face first at the mentioning of Shinozaki.

"You saw that...?" Yoshiki was a little peeved he hadn't said anything, but considering the things he hadn't mentioned to Morishige he couldn't say much. "When? Where was it? Was there any more signs of her" ..."or of anyone" he quickly corrected.

"You didn't see it? I'm sure we walked past the area it was in earlier, although we were focusing on other things. And it has been a while now. We expected to bump into her after that but no luck."

Yoshiki curled his fist thinking about Shinozaki in here. Now he knew for certain he had to find her, especially after what he had seen.

Morishige was the kind of person who was good at observing, he noticed things, like Yoshiki's reaction, and he think he understood. "The class-rep will be fine, that's why she left the candle so we would know she was alright."

Yoshiki swallowed uncurling his fist and stretching out his fingers '"I know you're right." Yoshiki looked down at the ground as he walked. "Wonder how it's all going to go down once we get out, not like we can ignore this is it?"

"No but who would believe us? They'd think we were mad."

Yoshiki laughed a bit, it sounded more like a sneer. "Yeah they would probably have us checked. Guess we're supposed to keep our mouths shut then, which in a way works, I don't think I want to have to talk about this place.

Morishige agreed, best not to say anything but they would have to see how the others would handle it. Surely they'd know this story would sound absurd to any one who hadn't experienced it for themselves. Morishige gave Yoshiki a glance, he looked lost in thought. Morishige took out his phone falling back only slightly so that it wasn't obvious but so that Yoshiki wouldn't be able to look straight at his phone screen. He went to his pictures and to the last one he had taken, his finger hovered over the delete button. 'It's better off gone I shouldn't have taken it in the first place...It was a lapse in judgement'. He clicked it fast biting the bullet almost ready to sigh in relief. ' _Are you sure you want to delete this?'_ the phone asked almost as if it was mocking him. Morishige knew better than to get mad a technology it was only doing as it was programmed to, but he still felt as if he had the right to throw it down and scorn it for being so condescending.

"What you doing?" Yoshiki asked startling Morishige. He instinctively clicked the _yes_ button watching the image flicker away forever. He put his phone back in his pocket casually. "Just checking the signal, still nothing." There was nothing in his voiced that indicated he was lying. He felt relieved, like he had done the right thing.

"Ah yeah noticed that too, makes you wonder where the hell this place is." Yoshiki replied taking a look at his own phone. "The times busted too."

"Hm I can only assume it's somewhere we've never heard of" Morishige said twirling the phone around in his pocket which was becoming clammy from the sweat.

Yoshiki let out a sort of laugh "Yeah I would imagine so."

Morishige took his hand from his pocket putting the picture out of his mind. He thought about changing the mood and seeing what it was like to have a normal casual conversation with someone. Though he didn't count on Kishinuma being interested in any of the same things he was. "Getting out of here...this place, it could all be like some old classic horror movie, saving the girl and defeating evil perhaps with a few good fight scenes and punch lines thrown in. Would you like to be the protagonist Kishinuma or should I?"

"Please stop" Yoshiki said half joking half serious.

Morishige didn't smile but he look amused with himself. "I was only kidding of course."

"Yeah I got that just didn't know you could makes jokes." Yoshiki said grinning.

"I feel like I should be offended." Morishige replied with a flat tone.

Yoshiki smirked again, "Also what kind of horror movies are you watching? Sounds more like a low budget action movie."

Morishige was about to say something else as he realised they had made it to their destination. "Science Lab, at last."

Morishige pulled out the key and put it in the door "It fits" he said turning it.

"What you think was going to happen?" Yoshiki quipped lightly.

"I was just saying."

Morishige and Yoshiki entered the room, it was definitely a regular school science lab if you ignored the mess. There was broken equipment, cracked floor boards and broken work tables, one of which was somehow almost completely torn in half.

Morishige began searching the room starting with the cabinets. "It's in the same condition as the other rooms unsurprisingly." He grazed his hands over the shelves looking for anything they could use, he picked a bent staple from on one of the shelves and dropped in to the ground and continued looking for something more useful.

Yoshiki walked past him to look at the tables. "Yep, this place has some serious maintenance issues" he said blandly.

Morishige checked the sink next to cabinet, it was hard to tell but it looked like something was stuck inside the broken plug space. Morishige carefully put his hand down outstretching his finger's. Just as they reached the hole-

"Morishige!"

Morishige turned to Yoshiki who was standing in the middle of the room between the first set of tables staring at the far right corner of the room. Morishige went up beside him. There was a person huddled there staring down with their backs to them.

"How did we not notice her?" Yoshiki asked quietly. Morishige shook his head his eyes still on the girl. Yoshiki swallowed and looked at him, Morishige nodded.

"Hey" Yoshiki said speaking louder so she would hear him. "You alright back there?" The person turned around concerningly slow, she was an attractive girl, with blonde hair and a beautiful blue eye (the other being covered by her hair), but despite it's beauty it was lifeless, not like Nahos, she didn't exactly look dead, just gone. She was covered in blood but even past all of it Yoshiki could tell her uniform definitely came from a school much fancier than his, it was white and the skirt and blazer both had red edges, she even wore a beret, definitely not something you'd find at any of the schools in his area.

Morishige looked her up and down, she definitely seemed odd but maybe she was just scared.

"Can I come with you?" The girl asked plainly. She didn't sound scared her words were clear.

Yoshiki and Morishige shared a look before both turning around at a loud sound from behind them. It sounded like a door being slammed shut but they had already closed the door behind them when they came in.

Morishige looked back to the girl. She was much closer now, right at them. He jumped startled causing Yoshiki to turn around as the girl pushed Morishige with strength she shouldn't have had. Yoshiki had no time to see how far he had went before the girl grabbed his jacket and threw him at one of the tables. He whined in pain as his back hit the solid surface. She grabbed him again and pushed him to the ground. As soon as he realised what was happening Yoshiki started to fight back but this girl had an absurd amount of strength and now she had a knife seemingly out of nowhere. There was a harsh struggle between them as she tried to plunge the knife into whatever part of his body she could. Yoshiki could see the black, the same one that had been inside him circling her, it wasn't obvious or instantly noticeable but it was there, appearing and then fading away again and again.

The fight was becoming more futile on Yoshiki's end, he didn't stand a chance against whatever kind of strength this girl had. He saw something on the ground beside him, a loose material maybe from one of the broken tables, if he could just reach in time. Yoshiki had to take away one hand from the knife which inevitably drew it a lot closer to him as he struggled with one hand to keep it away from his skin. His hand grabbed the object and his fingers wrapped around it.

It was too late, the girl kicked it away and stabbed the knife into him. Or at least that's what he thought in the split second his life flashed before his eyes. Just as the knife made contact with his chest the girl dropped to the floor, hitting it hard. Morishige had hit her with something, some kind of tool, a nail puller maybe. He stood over her looking between her and the nail puller confused, like he didn't know what he had just done.

The two of them stared at her expectantly, Morishige standing over her eyes wide and confused unsure of had just happened and Yoshiki still sitting leaned up against the table her body at his legs. The girl didn't get back up. Yoshiki leaned forward carefully pressing his hand on her neck, she was dead. He gave a look to Morishige who understood what it meant.

Morishige dropped the weapon lightly. "I was just trying to get her off you", his voice was still level for the most part but he looked scared even if only a little it was the most he had shown since getting here.

Yoshiki was staring at the dead girl with a look of horror. 'This certainly escalated quickly' he thought to himself dryly. When he realised Morishige had spoke he blinked and tore his eyes of her. "I know" he stood up, "this is a mess but...I know you didn't mean for that to happen." 'That' being for her to die.

Morishige was actually surprised by his response. "No I didn't" he agreed. He swallowed his dry throat. "Whatever happened to her...she was gone already and was perfectly okay with trying to take your life."

Yoshiki nodded almost imperceptibly.

Morishige turned around and ran to the nearest wall throwing up. A weak amount of clear liquidy puke came out. Yoshiki's face scrunched up slightly at the sound, he walked past the body over to Morishige who sounded like he was hacking up a lung. "Jesus, you okay?"

Morishige nodded and wiped his mouth embarrassed "Sorry". Yoshiki looked at the puke reluctantly sensing Morishige's embarrassment, "Don't worry about it, could be worse, sure I could've went forever without having to see that but at least it doesn't stink as bad as it looks."

Morishige looked at Yoshiki in disbelief wondering if he ever thought before he spoke.

They took an awkward glance back at the body. "Kishinuma are you going to tell?" Morishige asked, it was the first time Yoshiki noticed his voice being anything but leveled.

Yoshiki sighed, "If you don't want me to then no, like I said I don't think you were trying to kill anyone. And honestly as bad as it makes me feel to say, she may have already been dead."

Morishige stayed silent.

Yoshiki grunted at his lack of response. "I get if you feel bad but you can't let this weigh you down, there was nothing else you could have done." Morishige remained silent but looked over at Yoshiki, "I know you're not just some murderer so stop with that look. Let's just leave." His voice grew louder but he wasn't shouting and didn't sound angry.

"Okay" Morishige finally said nodding. Yoshiki went back over to the body, Morishige watched closely. He bent down and picked up the knife she was using to try and kill him figuring after almost being killed twice it might come in handy. The knife had a strange aura around it. Yoshiki thought he saw it glow but that glow disappeared with a blink. Must have been a trick of light.

Morishige and Yoshiki left the room not bothering to finish their search and not planning to carry on the conversation about what just transpired. 'That was too easy' Morishige thought dejectedly as he exited.

There was something on the floor when they walked out, something that hadn't been there when they went in. Morishige knew what it was instantly, running over and picking it up. "It's Mayus student ID" he turned to Yoshiki to show him. "She must've just been here."

Yoshiki looked at it disbelievingly. It was a taunt, it had to be, he had to do his best to hide his vexation. 'Someone left this here on purpose, probably one of those damn ghost children' he thought angrily.

Morishige was already starting to walk turning to Yoshiki once he saw he wasn't following. "Kishinuma what are you doing? Come on I want to catch up with her!" He was growing increasingly frustrated, they must have been so close.

Yoshiki bit his tongue thinking things over. 'What am I doing? God Idiot you can't delay the inevitable just tell him'. "...Morishige we can't."

Morishige kept looking back in the direction he thought Mayu might have went in considering just leaving Kishinuma and hoping he followed by himself, but he was curious. "Can't what?" He looked at him bemused.

Yoshiki tried to stop himself but it was already stupid enough to keep it from him this long. This was probably what they - whoever left this here wanted, but he still had to. "Can't catch up with her." Even Yoshiki was getting frustrated with himself, it wasn't an easy thing to say and he had never been good at easing people into things, he was used to saying what he had to say, but he couldn't be so blunt now could he? Or would that be easier?

"Kishinuma -" Morishige started. "Stop just wait I'm trying to say-" Yoshiki interrupted him. "Kishinuma there the ghost!" Morishige interrupted Yoshiki who with widened eyes turned and saw the ghost girl standing only a few feet away from him. It was the one missing the top half of her head. 'This was one of the ones that had killed Mayu'. "Shit" he said backing off.

The ghost wasted no time charging toward them in an indescribably unsettling manner. Yoshiki and Morishige ran. Morishige waited just a split second before going to ensure Yoshiki was with him, he thought if he was in front he might turn around to a repeat of what happened with Ms Yui.

They ran until they lost track of where they were. They stopped for a second to catch their breath. "Think we lost it?" Yoshiki asked not too loudly.

Morishige listened carefully for any sounds. "Not certain, maybe." He peeked his head out from behind the wall. The ghost was right there walking towards them, "No definitely not, move." They ran again not making it far before coming face first with Yoshikazu, although they didn't know that was his name, didn't care much either. He was what most kids in here referred to as 'the monster with the hammer' except this time he had no hammer with him, both his hand were free. Without giving Yoshiki and Morishige a chance at escape it lunged it's giant rotting hands down and grabbed both of them by the backs of their clothes tightly. No room at all to even slip out of their jackets. He turned and began to drag them away. They both struggled using up all their energy to escape. Yoshiki cursed at it furiously and repeatedly, the monster acted like it took no notice and continued to walk.

Yoshiki continued to struggle against his grip but Morishige had stopped knowing his strength wasn't going to be a match no matter how much he kicked or pushed. He thought about telling Yoshiki it was no use but if it made him feel better then why not. Maybe this was punishment for what happened with the girl in the science lab and maybe the girl in the science lab was punishment for the picture, but he deleted it didn't he? And the girl was an accident wasn't it? He hoped so.

* * *

Tohko wasn't dead. She had been beaten badly. Her clothes hung in tatters. Her hair no longer tied back but a distorted mess, at least what was left of it. She was sure some of it had been ripped out and there was definitely blood in it. Instinctively she ran her hands through it trying to smooth it out, she looked at her bloody broken fingers which now had a chunk of hair in it. Tohko didn't cry about it she was much too confused to cry, she wasn't sure any more, sure of anything.

After a while Tohko stood up, it was a long and harrowing task but she made it to her feet. Tohko stumbled through the hall dragging one leg behind her and gasping in pain every slow step. She made it to the exit somehow against all odds, that was the last place she was going before everything happened, it was all she knew that was left. The key, she still had it. It fit and the large door opened without trouble.

Tohko stopped, putting her twisted hand up to her ear, half of it was missing she was sure of it. Only the bottom half though and she could still hear. She heard the rain pouring loudly on the roof above her and to the side of her. Tohko was outside now on the walkway, she didn't even look at the rain just limped painfully to the next door which spectacularly opened with the same key. She left the key in the door figuring it was useless to her now.

From there Tohko walked and walked not even thinking about how there was whole other wing, she was looking for a miracle. Although she was a miracle, part of her knew that under normal circumstances she wouldn't even be able to walk right now. But she had to here, no one else would help her. They were all either dead or gone. Tohko was crying silently not even really realising it. At one point she dropped to her knees and screamed, like a delayed reaction to the pain that was coursing all through her body. Then she walked again. There was a little girl in a red dress, she followed her right into the science lab. As soon as Tohko made it into the room the girl wasn't there anymore. 'I saw her, I'm not crazy please be here'. Her knees shook and she fell again, her bruised knees hitting the rough and sharp wood. Tohko pushed herself back up, she fell over again but was quick to grab on with both hands to the sink for support. She stared down the broken plug hole watching as blood from either her nose or mouth or even her head dripped down into the sink. There was something down there, surely she wasn't imagining this. Tohko weakly leaned one arm on the sink resting her weight on it, she used the other arm to stick her fingers down the space. It was only now that she noticed she was missing half a pinky, she ignored that. Her fingers were down there now but it wasn't enough she began to push her whole hand down. It didn't dawn on her that a second ago the space wasn't nearly big enough for her to fit her hand into.

"Got you" she whispered as her fingers made contact with something. But It wasn't her that had something, it was something else that had her. "No I got you" a muffled voice echoed up from inside the sink. Tohko pulled away weakly in a panic but whatever it was kept it's tight supernatural grip on her. Tohko's entire arm from the shoulder was ripped off as she pulled back, a splash of blood erupted from it covering the sink and floor, some even made it to the ceiling. She screamed trying to throw herself back as her now detached arm was sucked down the pipe. An invisible force either from the front or behind threw her back towards the sink, a hand from inside stuck up, it was a cold grey dead hand that clawed at her face. The hand lodged itself inside her mouth grabbing onto her tongue and pulling, it came off even easier than the arm did. The sink was now completely red. Tohko didn't die instantly, she was choking on her blood face first in the sink the rest of her body slumping forward and convulsing. The hand wasn't done, once again it came back up grabbing her face sticking its tiny fingers right into her cheek and pushing her face up and slamming it down again and again until it was satisfied and Tohko was surely dead. Her body stayed in the same position half standing up with her head in the sink. It would be tiring work to try and peel her sticky broken sliced up face out of it. The arm slid back down and disappeared.

Sachiko stood not too far behind watching with a pleased and subtle smirk on her face. She sighed thinking of Yoshikazu, how could he not finish her off himself? "Oh well more fun for me" she said giddily. 'These days If you want something done right you had to do it yourself. What a useless dumbass he was'. The sight of Tohko wiped away her scowl and she thought happy thoughts again as she left the room. Sachiko had work to do, this time she was going to do everything right. Maximum fear. She couldn't wait.


	8. Futile

When she was following Sachiko Yui lost track of everything. When she regained her senses she could honestly say that she had no idea where she was or how she got here. "This is...?"

"My play pool" Sachiko said cheerfully jumping up and down.

Yui looked around frantically. They were outside now, 'When did that happen?' There was a large pool in font of her filled up with murky and infested looking water. There were broken tiles everywhere and even a large chunk of the ground was missing in one direction. Heavy rain poured down on them battering off her skin. Beneath the fog she could see a large man, if he could even be called that, walking toward's them. He stopped behind Sachiko resting his very large hammer by his side.

Yui was completely paralysed by fear and confusion not even thinking to run. "What...is this? you said my student was here?!" She barely managed to get the words out, her throat felt extremely dry all of a sudden.

Sachiko let out a laugh, one not suited for such a young looking girl. "He's not but it's okay I'm sure they'll all find their way here with you soon enough."

Before Yui had a chance to respond the large monster picked up his hammer and swung it like a bat right at her leg, right below her knee. Suddenly her world was filled with pain, her leg completely gave out letting out a sickening crunching sound as it did. Yui screamed dropping to the ground face first. "Gah...Stop!"

 _*Slam*_

There was a second blow given to her right arm. She let out another inhuman sounding scream. The heavy raindrops continued to drop down on them loudly. Yui attempted to use her other arm to push her face off the ground.

Sachiko was happily clapping at the side loving every moment. "It get's better it get's better." She repeated. She took another few steps closer to Yui. "Do you know how? ...All the people you came here with are going to go through the same thing." With that she continued to laugh facing up towards the sky and letting the rain hit her face.

"N...NO! Don't you touch them I'll-" She cried out trying with everything she had to overcome the pain. No matter how much it hurt the thought of something happening to any of them was so much worse.

"HAHAHA, YOU'LL WHAT? What could you possibly do?! You've let them die before why not let it happen again!" Her shrill voice echoed throughout the space like it was the only thing that existed.

'What does that mean?' Yui thought as she groaned in pain. There was nothing she could do as the man brought down his hammer once more.

This time the hit landed right in the middle of her back, there was a loud snapping sound as her spine shattered. Her body started to spasm and blood was coming out of her mouth. There was no way for her body to deal with this, it was starting to give out and all Yui could do was thrash around helplessly.

"Teacheeeeer...you can't save them, nobody can! Most of them are already dead!" Sachiko stopped laughing, she now wore a cold expression. One of pure evil.

The large man not so gently dropped his hammer down. He bent down and grabbed the squirming Yui by her crushed up arm and dragged her closer to the edge of the pool.

'God no...I'm so sorry kids.'

* _Splash_ *

Now her vision was nothing but darkness. The dirty water clouded her eyes and filled her broken lungs, she kept sinking down. Her body turned around as she sunk and now she was facing upwards. Yui shouldn't have been able to see anything through the water but there she was, the little girl with the red dress looking down at her watching her sink with a blank but menacing expression on her face.

 _It's okay kids, you can make it...I know you will, you have to. I won't let you die. I love you all._


	9. Arachnid

**No NO NO LET ME GO PLEASE**

Seiko was being held down tightly by the three ghost children. She screamed out ferociously as they stuck their tiny little fingers in to her flesh. She felt one of them grab onto her face slipping its finger through her eye socket in an attempt to find something to grip. The other two grabbed at her sides. They began to pull. There was a loud ripping sound, her world turned red. Seiko looked over at her headless corpse and screamed though no sound came out. Blood sprayed out from her empty neck space all the way over to her detached head, right into her good eye. The ghost children weren't there anymore, she could hear footsteps approaching. The figure came into her line of sight and bent down on its knees to look her in the eye. Seiko stared back at the smiling distorted face of her best friend covered in her own blood.

Seiko gasped throwing herself up and grabbing at her body to make sure everything was still attached. She looked around remembering that she was in the infirmary. They had stopped to rest. Satoshi was sitting at the end of the other bed re-reading the article they had found. He turned around and looked at her with concern.

"Shinohara are you alright?" Seiko looked at his bewildered face. 'Gee I must have came of as a more than a little hysteric' Seiko thought, she didn't like bringing attention to herself for anything other than being the over the top eccentric classmate. Seiko tried to force a smile "What you asking me for you're the one who looks like you've seen a ghost." They had seen a ghost though, thinking back to it Seiko found her comment less funny.

Satoshi continued to stare looking more concerned. Seiko sighed and finally gave him eye contact. "It was just a nightmare nothing I can't handle." She now sounded extremely solemn.

Satoshi looked down at the article. "Sorry, are you sure you're alright?"

Seiko nodded unenthusiastically. She reluctantly pulled herself off the bed patting her skirt down. She inhaled heavily, breathing in the awkwardness. "Um well maybe we should get going, ya'know if you're up for it."

Satoshi folded up the article and stood up as well. "Yeah I'm about ready to get out of here as long as you can keep going."

As if on cue there was a loud rumble in the room, Seiko remembered the familiar sensation from earlier and grabbed onto the bed.

"Earthquake" Satoshi said exhausted. With that just as fast as he could say it the building began to settle.

"Thank god" Seiko let go of the bed."Just a short one." She smiled faintly, making her way out of the room. She slid the door open and stepped out turning back to look at Satoshi.

When Satoshi exited the room he was met with the sight of a now scared looking Seiko who was covering her mouth and looking straight past him, to the walls. Satoshi's eyes widened, he jumped over to her quickly and turned around to the wall. It and the door of the infirmary were now covered in thick wet blood. It definitely wasn't there when they came in. But there was no noise from outside that indicated anything, there was no way anything could have happened whilst they were in there. And yet here it was, more blood, dripping down slowly onto the floor below.

Seiko gripped her eyes shut and turned away. "Ghh, god what the hell. When did that. How!?"

Satoshi looked the wall up and down, it was truly a horrendous sight. He closed his mouth slowly and backed off a step, closer to Seiko but still looking in the direction of the infirmary. "No idea, I swear there was no noise from out here while we were in there."

Seiko pulled her hands away from her mouth to let out a breath. She opened her eyes. "Hm?" There was something on the floor. Seiko walked over to it, she was sure it wasn't there earlier. It was clearly a student ID but it was face down so she couldn't see who's yet.

Satoshi noticed Seikos movements and finally tore his eyes away from the blood. He watched as she bent down to pick something up and he watched her eyes widen. Seiko looked over at Satoshi, standing up to go towards him she held the ID out for show. Satoshi read the name and took the ID from Seiko gently, just so he knew it was real. "It's...Yoshiki's" he sighed. "He's here too." That much he had gathered, the spirit they had met informed them there was other's but this made it a reality.

"Yeah, but why would this be here?" Seiko asked anxiously.

Satoshi rubbed his face with one hand trying to think of a convincing answer. "He...could've just dropped it...I mean he's been careless with his stuff before, always leaving his phone behind in class and..." Without finishing his sentence he looked at Seiko "Makes sense right.?"

Seiko would have agreed but the ginormous blood splatter behind Satoshi was telling them both something different. Seiko did the math. They went into the infirmary and the hallway was empty, they come out and Kishinuma's ID is found right next to a newfound mass of fresh blood. It seemed like too much to be just a coincidence. Although there wasn't much blood on the ID, just a few specs but Seiko figured if it was in his pocket at the time it wouldn't have taken the brunt of the damage. Seiko mentally scolded herself, they didn't yet have any real evidence that these two things were related, just in the same place. Seiko noticed Satoshi's solemn expression, he was thinking the same but the wheels in his head were turning while he tried to come up with less grisly explanations. Seiko motioned to the ID "Hold onto it Mochida, I'm sure he's looking for it."

Satoshi gave a weak nod and smile to Seiko appreciating her hopeful tone. "Y-Yeah okay."

"The paper scrap its in there too right?" Seiko asked referring to the scrap of paper doll Ayumi had made them use for the ritual in the first place. It was supposed to tie them all together as friends, forever.

"Yeah it is." Satoshi saw Seiko's sad expression, she couldn't hide it. She had discovered the loss of her own paper scrap not much earlier. Satoshi had assured her they'd come across it. He hoped he was right. It was so much more than just a scrap of paper now, it was a symbol of their friends, the ones they were trying so desperately to find. It was important.

...

They continued to search, calling out their friends name from time to time in hopes that even one of them would hear.

Seiko stopped walking. "Mochida look there's something under the floor here I think." From beneath the floorboards something vaguely shiny caught Seiko's eyes.

"Hm I don't see anything." Before Satoshi had even finished his sentence Seiko was down on her knees fishing through the cracks.

"Wait you said you think! Shinohara don't just put your hands down there!" Too late Seiko was already picking at the object. Satoshi relinquished knowing fine well trying to get Seiko to listen to him was futile.

Seiko stuck her tongue out as she awkwardly tugged at the object. "Ugh almost got it Yes come on...Ow!"

Satoshi panickedly dropped down beside her "What is it?!"

"Geez relax I scraped my hand off the wood a little that's all."

Satoshi looked at her with disbelief and slight frustration. He started making incoherent noises trying to process Seiko's overt calmness. He sighed openly gathering himself. "Just please don't do that."

Seiko smiled in her evil playful way. "Aww Mochi I knew you cared about me." She batted her eyelashes innocently at him.

Satoshi was about to start sputtering again furiously questioning his new nickname but he stopped himself and instead just looked down at the ground shaking his head, he laughed lightly.

Seiko finally retrieved the object pulling it up from beneath the floor, she held it in her palm for both of them to see. Satoshi tilted his head and examined it, "It looks like some kind of... what are those things called again?"

"Winders" Seiko answered.

"Yeah like for a watch." Satoshi exclaimed.

"Or a jewelry box" Seiko said sounding perky.

"Um yeah or that."

"Don't sound so shy when I bring it up, your secrets safe with me." Seiko said slyly.

Satoshi looked at her baffled and slightly embarrassed. Seiko was referring to a time before all this when she had bumped into him buying a very pretty oriental jewelry box after school. No matter how much he persisted it was for his sister Seiko still just smiled and insisted there was no shame. Satoshi was embarrassed at the time but the thought made him smile now, there was nothing Seiko loved more than teasing her friends. "Do you think it will have any use?" Satoshi asked changing the subject.

"Hmmm" Seiko turned the winder around in her hand interlacing it between her fingers. She put on a more serious tone "My first thought would be no but we don't know for sure there's not something here we can use it with."

"So we hang onto it just in case." Satoshi said half asking half stating.

"Well yeah I didn't go through all that just to leave it."

Satoshi smiled at her. "All that? Thought it was just a scrape that's why you told me to calm down right?"

Seiko pursed her lips avoiding a smile. "Yeah well I changed my mind it was traumatic."

Satoshi rolled his eyes and stood up before helping Seiko on her feet.

"On we go" Seiko said raising her eyebrows in a _here we go again_ fashion. "Yep, here we go." Satoshi answered ruefully.

As they walked the putrid smell of the building seemed to worsen, so many bodies all in different stages of decay all crammed together wasn't kind on their noses. Seiko didn't think she'd ever get this smell out of her memories. One thing was for sure, when she got out she was taking a bath in a perfume store.

 _"Seiko?!" "Satoshi?!"_

Both of them stood still. "Did you hear that?" Satoshi asked his eyes darting around rapidly.

Seiko froze while her brain hurriedly tried to process the voice, even from a distance she knew. "It's Naomi!"

 _"Seiko?"_ They heard the call again.

Seiko looked and sounded a mix between scared and excited now. "Come on Mochida this way!" Satoshi darted beside her and and they ran through the halls towards the voice calling their names. "Come on Naomi say something again." Satoshi pleaded.

They kept running until they felt their feet hit nothing, for a moment it was like they were running on air. The solid floor they were on disappeared below them and they fell in unison down to the darkness below. The feeling was overwhelming. Seiko screamed. Probably louder than she had ever screamed before.

There was a splash as they both hit what appeared to be deep black water. Although on closer inspection the space was filled up with countless different insects. Bugs, worms and spiders alike. Seiko spat and screamed in a panic. Beside her was a raised solid platform that she had been fortunate enough to land right next to. She grabbed on and tried weakly to pull herself up. Her torso half was up and her legs still kicked wildly behind her trying to give her some leverage to push forward. The worms and bugs were on her clothes and mostly likely in her hair but the ones she felt were the ones on her legs slithering and crawling around. Some fell off as she kicked while others grasped to her tightly with their sticky insect claws. The sensation was horrible, it was an invasion on her skin. "NO NO NO GET OFF! Help!" Seiko dug her nails into the platform that was topped with dry dirt and pulled herself up rolling onto her back once she had made it. She coughed and sputtered, her stomach felt like it had dropped through her. "Gah wait Mochida?!" Seiko sat up and looked out onto the pool of insects, the space wasn't huge but it was definitely deep. Satoshi hadn't been fortunate enough to land near the edge, he was further out struggling to keep himself from sinking. Seiko got into a crawling position and went to the edge of the platform, she had her hand outstretched. "Mochida come over hurry!"

Satoshi desperately pushed through the heavy insects. He was going under more with each pull. Now his chest was completely covered and his shoulders were the next target. Seiko ignored the tears and the bugs she kept screaming at him to get over with her hand outstretched. Satoshi made it to her hand and grabbed just as the lower half of his face went under, he closed his mouth trying to keep the bugs out but he needed to breathe, they were already crawling up his nose. Soon his whole head went under but his arm still had hold of Seiko's. She whimpered loudly now using both hand's to pull him out. She held on hard and pulled back again and again so hard she was afraid his arm might just come off. Satoshi had no breathing space, all he could hear was the squelching sound of bugs entering his ears ultimately blocking his hearing and all he could feel was the heaviness of thousands of different sized bugs weighing and pulling him down. The fear was the worst, the feeling you experience when you're dying and can't do anything about. His life wasn't flashing before his eyes, his death was.

"AHhhhhhhh" Seiko pulled back again and his head was pulled up, she kept going and he managed to get his other hand free using it to grip the rocky cut off. Eventually he was up. He fell flat on his face coughing and spitting out bugs some of which lay dead others that scurried off. Seiko started to pat down his back frantically swooshing all them off him all while her own collection crawled through her clothes and on her skin. Satoshi sat up exhaustively and patted the rest of them down before realising he wasn't the only one who was covered, he quickly helped Seiko do the same. Even with them off Seiko shivered repeatedly unable to get past the feeling of them on her skin. The unpleasant feeling of them in her shoes, the way the spiders moved their quick legs over her one after another. These sensations stayed there making her feel sick

Satoshi could breathe better now but was still taking big gasps of air in between words. "Shinohara you. Okay? What. The. Hell happened?!" Seiko wiped her face with her now insect free sleeve. "I don't know it happened so quickly. I, I think the floor broke?" She was unsure but it was the only thing that could have happened.

"Yeah broke." he said skeptically.

Seiko noted his tone."What? you don't think it was like a trap door or something crazy like that do you?"

"I think that's exactly what I think" Satoshi said looking up above them. There was no hole in the floor where they fell most of it was just compact dirt save for the exact spot where they fell which looked like a wooden ceiling. There was a ladder to the side which he was thankful for, they could've been trapped down here.

Seiko wiped another tear and made a noise that was sort of like a laugh. "Satoshi Mochida you completely owe me for life." Satoshi gave her a weak look but smiled gratefully, "Ha yeah I really do."

Not wanting to spend another second in this place they climbed up the ladder one after another. "No peeking" Seiko joked, climbing up first.

The first thing Seiko done when they made it back up was shout on Naomi. "She'll be long gone by now won't she?" Seiko said sadly.

Satoshi's eyes made there way around the hall. "She won't be here right now but we heard her so we know she must be close. Come on let's find her." Seiko gave him a look that indicated she agreed. Satoshi remembering something suddenly quickly checked all his pockets, his student ID as well as Kishinumas had miraculously survived the incident, he was grateful for inside pockets, but the same could not be said for the extra money he had brought with him for the culture festival. 'Not much to pout over I suppose.'

"Mochida in here" Seiko looked back at him, "We haven't been in here yet." The two stepped in to the unchecked classroom. Both their brows furrowed. "What is this?" Seiko asked perplexed. "Not sure, It's not like any classroom I've ever seen." The whole room was shaped like a rectangle, a very unspacious rectangle. There was only one desk that was stuck in the far corner, a huge space in the floor which took up half of the room and a body placed quite indelicately in the centre pushed up against the wall. Seiko shook her head at it sadly.

"There's something over there" Satoshi said making his way to the end of the room. Seiko followed hesitantly. "I've never seen anything like this in a school before" Seiko said blandly.

"It's like a pulley thing system right?" Satoshi asked giving the mechanism a confused glare.

"A what?" Seiko gave him an estranged look.

"You know like a pulley system" Satoshi decided not to go any further when he saw Seiko's confused and bored face. "Nevermind, I don't know how to explain it anyway."

"Cool so what's it do?" Seiko asked. That was the question Satoshi thought,'what did it do?' his hand's traced around it. "Hmm...winder." he said almost in a whisper.

"What is it?" Seiko couldn't hear him. "The winder do you still have it?" Satoshi asked rather determined.

Seiko felt around her pockets afraid it might have been lost in the bug incident, but no there it was. When she pulled it out a small remaining bug came with it causing her to scream and making Satoshi jump, he seemed more scared than her. He let out a breath and gently took the winder from her. Seiko watched closely and figured out herself the connection. "Huh no way, if this thing turns out to be useful you owe me your life savings."

"I don't think those are fair terms" Satoshi rebutted pushing in and turning the winder. They both stood still in anticipation, after about 10 seconds Seiko let out a disappointed breath. "Well there goes my college fund."

"Wait the lever." Satoshi remembered the rusty lever on the mechanism was yet to be pulled all the way. He grabbed on to it and begun to pull. "It's really stiff." He said through gritted teeth. Seiko grabbed onto it as well and together they managed to pull it down one last notch. This time they felt something, the ground rumbled before resuming still. "Well that felt like something" Seiko said looking around the room expectantly.

They went out in search of anything new. "Look" Seiko said leaning down to pick up something. "What is it?" Satoshi gave a look at her hand's. "A tape." He said answering his own question. It read _Kibiki Research Data._

"Do you feel that?" Seiko asked, she knew what was happening. In the next few second's the earthquake had begun and it was much more forceful than the last. "Ah" Seiko fell back onto her rear.

"Gah are you okay." Satoshi leaned down on his knee (knowing he would fall over anyway) and made sure Seiko was alright. At least Thirty seconds, that's how long they assumed this earthquake lasted. Longer than the last that was for sure. Satoshi and Seiko helped each other up. Seiko picked up the tape again and pocketed it "Ugh I really don't like this place."

"That makes two of us" Satoshi replied ruefully.

They made their way forward making it all the way to the custodians closet for the first time. "Locked" Seiko said, she turned and started to leave.

"Wait Shinohara I hear something" Satoshi put his ear up against the door. Seiko walked back and leaned against it gently. They gave each other a look. "Static?" Seiko questioned. "TV static..I would say." Satoshi replied.

"You're telling me a place like this would have a TV?" Seiko asked intrigued but more confused.

"Wouldn't say it's impossible." Satoshi answered. "Huh yeah well I wouldn't say anythings impossible after this." Seiko said backing away from the door.

"This door isn't like the other ones that are locked" Satoshi started "It's not fake so we might just need-"

"A key" Seiko finished his sentence. Satoshi nodded. "Okay we can do that."

"Yeah let's look around" Seiko said.

They traveled back down towards the entrance way, towards the west hallway. Everything appeared normal (whatever normal was in this place) until they noticed the very apparent, large and definitely was not there before passage space in the wall. "That's new right?" Seiko asked looking at Satoshi while they walked closer to it.

"Definitely." He answered staring at it with obvious curiosity. "Stop!" He said suddenly.

Seiko gasped "what?"

"Voices" he whispered. Seiko listened closely, there were definitely people coming from the space. She watched frozen in place as two figures appeared from inside, drenched from head to toe. "Oh my god" Seiko gasped and covered her mouth before the relief filled her entire body. "Naomi."

* * *

A/N

Hi everyone, my first Authors Notes is just to let you know if you've been reading since this started that I updated the end of Chapter 2. Nothing significant it's only some rewording of the last few paragraphs cause honestly it's been annoying me for ages. thanks for reading.


	10. Thicker Than Water

"God dammit, useless this whole search is useless how long has it been since we've found one!?" Ayumi was referring to the tongue bags, they hadn't had any luck in some time.

Naomi looked at her with sad eyes, "A while I know but surely we'll come across one eventu-"

"When is eventually? This place is dangerous our friends are in danger! We're in danger! Bodies! Everywhere! This place I don't want to be here I want to go home I, I" Ayumi's tangent became faster in pace, her breathing sped up and she could feel the familiar triggers of a panic attack.

"Class-rep" Naomi said sounding scared. She looked at her classmate, who was as scared as she was and put on a determined face. Walking up to the class-rep she put her arms on her shoulders an looked her in the eyes. "It's ok, breathe. I'm...scared too but we've made progress, probably more progress than anyone in this school has ever made before. We're getting out of here."

Ayumi slowed her breathing and returned eye contact, "No ones...ever made it out of here before, they've all died..." A tear ran down her face and Naomi had to fight to keep her own composure. "I just want everyone to be safe."

Naomi smiled faintly. "Me too. More than anything. So let's find them, let's find them right now! The air, it's changing we both feel it. So if no one's ever got out of this place alive then we'll be the first." Naomi gave a more convincing smile, Ayumi couldn't hold back any longer, she cried out loud and tears streamed down Naomi's face. They hugged each other like friends do. Ayumi put aside her jealousy. She didn't care that Naomi was prettier than her, or that Mochida liked her more, or that her boobs were bigger, none of it mattered, they were friends. Closer than ever and all each other had right now.

They both pulled away wiping their tears. "Sorry for the outburst Nakashima... this place." Ayumi didn't have to finish her sentence. "Yeah I get it, it takes its toll."

Ayumi was about to suggest heading off when she caught sight of the redness on Naomi's cheek. "Nakashima what happened to your cheek, it's all red?"

Naomi instinctively placed her hand on her face, she stroked it lightly. "It's nothing to worry about, I didn't want you to feel bad or anything. When you were...possessed earlier you weren't yourself." Naomi tried to continue beating around it but Ayumi had already caught on, she covered her mouth in shock.

"Oh god, don't tell me I did that!?" She wanted to cry again, she was so against violence the thought of hurting someone especially a friend was one of the worst feelings. She shook her head and fought off tears. "I'm so sorry, I'm so so sorry, I-"

"Class-rep don't it's okay you weren't yourself! And plus I'm completely fine now." Naomi cut her off and tried extremely hard to convince Ayumi that it wasn't her fault.

Ayumi stood there looking and feeling ashamed, she sniffed unable to give eye contact. "I'll make it up to you somehow."

Naomi looked more apologetic than her now and was unsure what to say, she took her hand. "It's alright, I wouldn't blame you." Ayumi nodded at her but was still on the verge of tears. "How about you make it up to me by not blaming yourself and helping me find this bag?"

Ayumi almost laughed. "Alright."

They walked staying close together. Ayumi held the doll 'Why aren't you doing anything anymore, don't stop on me, you still need to repent.' She thought to herself staring it dead in the eyes.

"You want me to hold it for a bit?" Naomi offered catching Ayumi off guard. "Sure if you don't mind." Ayumi handed Naomi the doll. "Thanks."

No more silence, that's all Naomi asked for, it was unbearable. "I miss them too." She said giving Ayumi a sorry glance.

For a moment it seemed like Ayumi hadn't heard, she stared on looking unmotivated and tired. "You think they're alright?" Ayumi looked at Naomi.

"Yes" Naomi lied. She glanced in the other direction, "I don't know, I just hope so." She admitted.

"You miss Mochida?" Ayumi wasn't quite sure why she asked that, but at the same time she knew exactly why. It just came out. Her feeling's were there and they couldn't be helped. If that was the same for Naomi then surely she should be more understanding.

Naomi was caught off guard by the question, she stuttered before getting an answer out. "Of course I do, I miss everyone." She was silent for a bit before continuing. "He's...just such a scaredy cat I'm worried about how he's handling this. I'm worried for him that's all."

"Yeah he really is" Ayumi smiled thinking back to better times than this. "Whenever I tell a story he's always the first to get scared and the most blatantly obvious about it."

Naomi smiled too, "He's always ends up grabbing onto someone which is usually poor Kishinuma who ends up hitting him." Naomi couldn't help but snicker at the thought and neither could Ayumi, they both started laughing with each other for the first time in this place.

"And tonight when he screamed." Ayumi said laughing. "Priceless." Said Naomi. Ayumi had to stop herself from laughing more because she was about to start crying again. How could so much change in one night? How could it have only been a few hours since then? Naomi was thinking the same, their laughter died down and their footsteps got louder.

"Do you like him Nakashima...like, _like_ him?" Once again Ayumi was caught off guard by her own question and once again Naomi was caught off guard By Ayumi's question.

"Of course I like him he's my friend...I mean I'm not sure maybe I do but." Naomi already regretted saying that, it was too much information, her face started to turn red.

Ayumi knew the answer but hearing it was different. Because she knew, deep down she knew Mochida liked her too. But it wasn't like she owned him, if that's how it was then that's how it would be. Sure some part or her hoped for a miracle, that Satoshi would get down on his knees to her and say "it was you all along Ayumi" but she knew better. It would hurt, maybe for a long time but she'd get through it.

Ayumi's silence made Naomi nervous, "What? You don't think he feels the same do you?" Naomi was more embarrassed now, she looked like an idiot for admitting feeling's - **Possible** \- feelings for a guy who didn't like her like that.

Ayumi felt guilty now, seeing her embarrassed face. "No it's not that. He...probably does." There it was out. No going back. She felt sad because she knew that maybe all they needed was one person to say to one of them, "they like you" it was basically like saying _go for it_. But if she was to move on from a guy who didn't see her in the same way, she had to start somehow.

Naomi tried not to perk up. "No way, there's no way. Where would you even get an idea like that!?"

Ayumi smiled at her, her eyes showed sadness but her words were different, they sounded supportive. "Nakashima...trust me."

Naomi smiled shyly.

 _Straight Ahead_

Naomi practically jumped out of her skin. "What was that?!"

"It was the doll." Ayumi said loudly.

 _Straight Ahead_

"I heard you the first time." Naomi said clutching her chest feeling it beat up and down much too fast.

The girls walked ahead. "There." Ayumi said pointing, "That wasn't there before." A large new passageway had appeared in the west hallway. "Should we check i-" Naomi started. "Let's check it out" Ayumi finished.

Ayumi went in first and Naomi followed straight after. "It's shower's." Ayumi stated. "Yeah, a locker room, exactly the thing you'd expect to find in a school I suppose." Naomi said scanning the room. It was all grey and very dirty, there was limescale and moss and broken lockers and a broken shower, with more cracks everywhere. Not much different from the rest of the building. "Sure but if this has always been here then why has the doorway only appeared now?" Ayumi was talking more to herself at this point.

"Ahhhh" Naomi's hand suddenly felt like fire, she let the doll roll out of it and smack down onto the ground. It had burned her, like acid. The smooth white skin on her palm was now marked red.

 _Figure the rest out all by yourself_. The doll taunted. It had a sweet childlike voice but it wasn't fooling anyone.

"It burned me." Naomi said showing her hand to Ayumi. Ayumi kicked the doll away in anger. "Are you okay? Does it still hurt?" Ayumi grabbed her hand and inspected it concerned.

Naomi nodded biting her tongue, "Yes it burns a little still."

Ayumi went to each of the showers and tried to turn them on, she hoped water would help the pain but each time she was met with an obnoxious squeaking sound and no result. "I'm sorry Nakashima none of these are working, is there anything else I can do?"

Naomi held her hand and jabbed her nails into another part of her arm to draw the pain away. "No let's just do what it says and figure this out, the pain will pass soon."

There was another door in the locker room, as they approached a familiar sound could be heard from behind it. Ayumi pushed it open and both of the girls were instantly soaked. "It's raining."

"We're outside." Naomi said. They both had to say these very obvious things out loud, just to reassure themselves. Naomi put out her hand and let the cold rain hit it. The cooling effect was magnificent.

Ayumi let out her own hand which was now bloody, her nose had started bleeding, she tried to wash it away with the rainwater. Naomi noticed and turned to her, "What's happening are you alright?"

"My head hurts a bit...I'm okay though." Ayumi placed a hand on her head trying to force the pain away. 'Please stop I really can't deal with this right now.' Ignoring the pain and the nose bleed she took in her surroundings. The big pool was filled up with grotesque coloured water and stretched so far she couldn't see the other side. Ayumi noticed Naomi cupping her hand's together to try to gather some rainwater and did the same. "Come one Nakashima let's go around."

At the other side of the pool Naomi was the first to notice the key lodged underneath one of the tiles. "Pump room" she read aloud.

"That should be close by." Ayumi said taking a look at the key. Surely enough it was, the key snapped on impact. They entered the room moving closer together trying to absorb each others body heat. "The rain, it's freezing out there." Said Naomi. "And not much better in here." Ayumi said hugging herself.

"I can barely see anything It's so dark in here." Naomi said taking a risky step forward. They made their way around the room until they found the drainage valve. It took both of their combined strength to turn the rusted old wheel.

"How's your hand?" Ayumi asked while they left the room. "mm better I suppose, still stings a little." Ayumi mentally cursed at the doll, she secretly felt bad she wasn't the one holding it.

"Oh my god" Naomi blurted out with hers eyes widened. Now with the murky water gone they could see the that the pool was filled with bodies, way too many bodies all spread out like they were on display.

"This is horrible." Ayumi said walking to the edge. She took a deep breath and hesitantly climbed down the ladder. "Nakashima I think there might be something in this grate." Ayumi leaned down the wet ground making her knees feel uncomfortably sticky. She could hear Naomi walking up beside her. While she fished whatever it was out Naomi walked around her looking at the bodies of this school's poor victims. 'How horrible' she thought. Just before she was about to turn round to Ayumi one in particular caught her eye, one at the very end that was barely visible from where she was standing. Naomi took a few steps forward eyeing the corpse suspiciously. There was something about it that was- "Got it." Ayumi said triumphantly standing up to show Naomi.

Naomi turned to her. "Good, what is it?"

"Some sort of handle I think."

Naomi gave it a closer look. "Looks like a valve wheel. We could see if it works up there." She pointed up at the large faucet at the top of the pool.

"Worth a shot, nice thinking Nakashima. Let's quickly check up here first." Ayumi motioned to the centre ladder leading up to the separated chunk of walkway. As she walked she averted her eyes away from the corpses.

At the top of the ladder was a note, drenched but by some miracle legible. Ayumi started to read it out loud. "I removed the wheel from the water pump-" As she read the word's started to fade, the rain water made the ink run heavily down the paper and spill onto the ground, Ayumi was holding it lightly but her smallest movement tore it apart easy. On the part she still held words started to appear _I said figure it out by yourself bitch._ Except the word 'bitch' didn't appear it was already there, the only remaining word of the original letter. The girls flinched and Ayumi dropped the paper in disgust. "Screw you murderer" She shouted at no one.

Naomi shook her head at it also in disgust. "At least we know my faucet theory is probably correct."

"Unless that's what he wants us to think." Ayumi sighed and relented. "Not like we have a choice though."

They made their way out of the pool and trudged towards the faucet. "It's not going to work, there's nowhere for this handle to go." Ayumi said disappointed.

"Maybe we're at the wrong valve." Naomi suggested. And with that they trudged over to the pump room again.

"Ugh I hate this room." Ayumi announced upon entering the pump room.

"Hey class-rep this says water pump." Naomi held out her hand and Ayumi passed the valve to her and watched her struggle to turn it all the way around. "I can't get it any farther, but it moved so it could've worked."

"I hope so." They made their way out of the pump room and stood at the edge of the empty pool ready to head down. "Ahhh" Ayumi felt a hard pressure on her back and fell painfully down to the bottom of the pool. She sat up instinctively grabbing at her now sore nose. She heard Naomi plop down the ladder beside her. "Are you okay? what happened!?"

Ayumi fought back tears. "I was pushed!" She eyed Naomi suspectedly.

"Pushed how could-" She noticed Ayumi's stare. "Class-rep I didn't push you."

"Then who the hell did?!" Ayumi shouted at her.

"How the hell would I know!"

"Maybe because YOU PUSHED ME" Ayumi yelled back at her, she wasn't sure why. If she were to think back on this later she would think to herself 'that was a strong push, there's no way Naomi would have been able to push me that hard' but this was right now in the moment and the constant ache you feel when your body has just hit something short of solid concrete at a very high speed was all that was on Ayumi's mind.

The girls argued back and forward, Ayumi in pain and Naomi offended by the sudden accusations and distrust. They both failed to notice the red liquid pouring out of the faucets right into the pool they were standing in.

"WHY WOULD I PUSH YOU!?" Naomi yelled.

"I DON'T KNOW MAYBE BECAUSE YOU HATE ME!?"

"WHY WOULD I HATE YOU!?"

"I DON'T KNOWWWW!" Ayumi stopped shouting and looked at her knees, they were now cold and wet from more than rain. Naomi looked down at her feet, the red liquid was making its way over her shoes. "Blood?" Ayumi said quietly. They both turned to the faucet which was now spitting out blood at an alarming rate. And it wasn't just there, the blood was seeping through the cracks at the sides. The pool began to fill.

Naomi went at Ayumi and pulled her up. "Come on class-rep we have to go!" Naomi grabbed onto the ladder and put her first foot onto it.

"Wait! I have to check!?" Ayumi ignored her pained knees and sprinted towards the spigot splashing through the blood as she did. The top of the bag was the only part not drowned by the blood when she got there. She picked it up and held it in front of herself. "Tokiko" She read from the label. "This is it."

"Come on hurry!" Naomi shouted now at the centre of the pool waiting for Ayumi. She ran towards her and they sprinted to the ladder. The blood was at their ankles now. Naomi once again grabbed onto the ladder and started to climb.

* _Clink*_

The top of the ladder broke away from the wall and hurtled back down throwing Naomi into the blood and crushing her.

"Nakashima!" Ayumi shouted, the ladder had barely missed her. She grabbed onto it and pulled it to the side with much exertion. She bent down and grabbed Naomi's arms. Naomi was coughing and sputtering but managed to get to her feet. Daze she asked, "what happened?" "It broke It Just broke!?" Ayumi sputtered out.

They turned around and ran to the adjacent ladder. This time it fell before they got there. "Watch out!" Naomi yelled pulling Ayumi back, the ladder landed with a splash at their feet drenching their clothes and splattering all over their faces.

"Ugh NO!" Ayumi groaned. They ran to the next ladder. It broke, they ran to the next. The blood was right below their skirts now and still rising. "Is there even any use?" Naomi said dejectedly putting one hand on the side of the ladder. The answer appeared to be no. The final usable ladder crashed down in front of them. They both put their hands up this time to cover themselves from the blood.

It was at their waists now. "NO GOD NO SOMEBODY HELP ME PLEASE!" Ayumi screamed running around in a circle panicking and looking for another way out. She ran at the wall. "We can climb! We can climb!" She ran at it and started scratching and clawing as high as she could reach, she was much too short to reach the top.

Naomi just stood there and watched, panting heavily. She trudged awkwardly through the blood which constricted their movements greatly. Ripples formed around her with each pull. She got to Ayumi. "Class-rep calm down I'll boost you up and then you can help me up okay?"

"Okay" Ayumi said in sob. Naomi got into position cupping her hands so Ayumi could step on them. Ayumi tried but the blood was already just below their chest and it was near impossible to lift her feet up out of the blood and into Naomi's too high up hand. She still tried, desperately grabbing at Naomi's shoulders. "Your shoulders" she said out loud. "I could climb on top of them."

"Do it!" Naomi cried. Ayumi got her foot on Naomi's shoulder and was almost able to reach up but the rain and the blood made everything too slippy to grip, she fell back and went straight under. "Class-rep!" The blood went up more until it was neck length with Naomi. She held her breath and went under arising a few seconds later with the flailing Ayumi in hand. They grabbed onto each other and screamed. "Swim! We have to swim!" Naomi said.

"No don't let go." Ayumi cried out.

"You know how to swim I know you do! Come on." Ayumi turned to Naomi, they still had hold of each other. She nodded and they let go. It wasn't going to be easy. The blood was thick. Each time they tried to take a stroke forward it was like they were pushing themselves back.

'Come on you can do this Ayumi' Ayumi thought to herself determined not to let this be how she died. She finally started to make some progress almost reaching the edge. Then out of nowhere there was a corpse, one that had floated up face first. It was like most corpses were in this place, bloody and wrecked with open wounds. This one had broken, no not broken-shattered bones. It was a brutal sight. What was worse was this particular corpse wasn't a stranger. "Ms Yui! nononono, ahH" Ayumi was about to let out an ear piercing scream when her whole body went under.

Naomi who had somehow managed to grab hold of the edge at the side of the pool stared on in horror. The pool should have been still but waves splashed around as if this was an ocean, like someone had turned a wave machine on in a public swimming pool. Blood surged forward making its way into her open mouth. She spat it out in disgust and pulled herself up. She sat up weakly and looked out onto the blood filled pool. She was crying openly just waiting for Ayumi to appear. Naomi knew if she went back in there she'd die. She was at a loss. "CLASS-REP" she screamed. She pushed herself back away from the edge of the pool a few paces and lay on her side just crying and letting the rain hit her.

"NAKASHIMA HELP!" Her head darted up. She stood up and instantly slipped but stood up again and scrambled from the left side of the pool to the top. Ayumi had made it back up but couldn't quite reach the edge, especially not with Ms Yui's body floating into her. Naomi dropped down and outstretched her hands, Ayumi grabbed them and almost pulled her in but she kept her balance. She pulled her up and the two collapsed beside each other, their feet at the edge. They cried and they grabbed onto each other not caring that they had never been that close before. Yui's corpse sank back down.

They stayed there a while too long, it was freezing and as soon as the adrenaline started to die down the temperature became harder to ignore. Naomi put her hand in front of her face, the rain had washed a lot of the red off her skin but it would surely stain her clothes for life.

Ayumi sat up, she was shaking violently either from cold or fear or both. "Nakashima we should go inside."

Naomi didn't say anything but she stood up with Ayumi and they made their way back into the locker room. There was a gasp from both of them as they entered. There in front of them was the little ghost girl from earlier, the one with the missing eye. They had already returned her tongue but they still stood wary in case she hadn't been fully appeased.

"Hello" She said, her voice was soft like you would expect from a child.

The girls stared at her blankly and Ayumi suddenly remembered how to speak, "You're Yuki right?" She took a step forward.

Yuki nodded, her expression was still sorrowful. "You helped me so I came to check on you, are you both alright?"

"Not exactly" Ayumi said honestly, she was the furthest from alright she had ever been in this place.

"I'm sorry to hear that." Is all Yuki had to say. They both just stared at her. "You're trying to appease all of us...?"

"Yes we plan to appease all of you, if we do that we can leave right?" Ayumi asked.

Yuki looked at her solemnly. "I have to thank you for making the effort to help those of us who were killed in this school. But It...won't be enough...what you're doing it won't be enough."

Ayumi tilted her head up and gave a startled expression. "What do you mean. Why not? We're giving you your voices back...and we even got your murderer to repent."

"There's more too it. Us, the tortured souls who were murdered here, we're the ones holding this place together. The agony that feeds off of us makes us the perfect cogs to hold it all together." Yuki explained to the two bewildered looking girls.

"Did you bring us here?" Naomi asked finally deciding to speak up.

"No." Yuki answered quickly. "Like I said...we're being forced to hold this place together, but it is not our space and we do not bring anyone here."

"Then who..." Ayumi said softly feeling her energy sink lower and lower. "Why won't what we're doing be enough!?" She sounded frustrated.

"It's the repentance...It's not enough." Yuki's tone stayed the same, soft and scared.

"Why!? Can you not forgive him?" Ayumi was practically begging for an answer now.

"That's not it." Yuki said slowly.

Ayumi was forced to ask more questions. "Then why won't the repentance be good enough? Why won't it work? Tell us please."

Yuki stood silent for a moment while she thought things over. Finally she said, "Okay...It's not easy to remember but I can tell...even show you everything." Yuki walked over to Ayumi and took her hand. That was the last thing she saw before her head started to pound and she passed out.

* * *

Ayumi heard crying, right in her ear. The loud sobs of scared and confused children. Not just any children, the ghost children the ones that were murdered. Except very much alive. They like Ayumi were tied at the hands and feet. She was the only one who wasn't blindfolded. A large man towered over the bodies, laid out one by one right next to each other. The cry's were deafening, the constriction was sickening, the unsureness of it all was petrifying...and the murders were brutal. _In order_ she heard him say. Despite her resistance he blindfolded Ayumi, she could hear one by one the children who were set out before her being carved up and mutilated. Her ears hurt from the screams and her head hurt from the fear. She figured it out, this was it...the murders. 'But why show me this? What does this have to do with repentance. Yuki stop this!'

The scream's were too much, she just wanted it to end and finally they did. But after the relief of silence she remembered. She was next. The killer spared no time, Ayumi was grabbed by the hair and pulled up forcefully into a sitting position. He wanted her to see, he was taking off the blindfold. But...it wasn't him.

Ayumi's eyes widened to an unsettling degree as what she saw before her was the furthest from what she could have expected to see. The killer...the one covered in the blood of her victims was the little girl. The one from the article. 'No...you're the victim how can it be you?!' Ayumi didn't have the strength to say these words out loud. As if she had heard the little girl, the fourth victim Sachiko Shinozaki started to laugh. It was a small giggle that turned into a menacing cackle 'She's enjoying this...' Ayumi thought in disgust. The man she thought to be the murderer was trembling in the corner of the room, making noises sporadically all while Sachiko mocked Ayumi with the scissors, closing and opening them again and again.

Then came the pain. Sachiko brought the scissors down on Ayumi's left eye and stabbed at it repeatedly until there was nothing left. It was Ayumi's turn to scream. She wanted to die it hurt so bad and it just kept going never relenting the pain never relented! "Nooooooo!"

* * *

Ayumi was still screaming and crying begging Sachiko not to kill her, even when she was brought back to reality. She was in the locker room again, no longer tied down, she had both her eyes. There was no real pain but what she had experienced lingered like it had really happened to her and not to Yuki.

"Class-rep!" Naomi was repeating. Ayumi who was on her knees almost fell forward face first, she put her hand out when she was barely a few inches away from the floor, she coughed and spat, saliva dripped down and she did her best to wipe it away. Naomi rubbed her back while she gathered herself. "It's okay." Naomi said. "What happened?"

Ayumi let out another large moan before pushing herself up. "I was there...I saw everything." Naomi stared at her expectantly and hung on every word. "It wasn't him, we had the wrong guy."

"Then who-?" Naomi started. "It was the girl...the little girl from the newspaper, Sachiko Shinozaki. We thought she was the victim but we were wrong. She's far from it." Ayumi breathed in and out heavily. Naomi still had her hand on her back but she was motionless.

"The doll...who does it belong to if not the murderer?" Was the first question Naomi asked. Ayumi swallowed, "An accomplice, and a terrified one at that. I saw him shivering in the corner while she was..." Ayumi didn't want to say anything along the lines of 'Killing me'. Ayumi spoke directly to Yuki, "We're going to finish this Yuki, we'll exorcise all of you."

"I...appreciate that...I have to warn you first. The foundations of this school are standing very thin. Your interference so far has already started to merge the spaces together. Thing's from one are starting to sift into others, and that's not all good. There's not enough room for everything in the same space. And that doesn't just mean the physical, that means the souls and the pain are merging together too. And unfortunately that will take a toll, on me especially, you see this school is stronger than my mind. The pain will start to chew away at me again and It's likely that at any time I'll revert back to my old state. I might try to hurt you. With that said, I wish you the best."

Ayumi and Naomi stared at her with sad eyes. "Thank you...Yuki." Ayumi said standing up.

Yuki suddenly looked surprised. "Another earthquake." She muttered The girls barely heard her. "What? now?" Naomi asked. They waited but nothing happened. They looked at each other and then to Yuki in confusion. Yuki almost smiled, "Thank you, both of you and I'm sorry I couldn't do more to help. Just remember for Sachiko to feel remorse you have to appeal to her humanity, purify her soul. And...next time you see me, run." With that Yuki was gone.

"What about the doll?" Naomi said to Ayumi. Ayumi looked over at it, "I don't think we need it anymore..." There were no complaints about leaving it behind. Naomi unconsciously rubbed the burn mark on her hand. "Come on, we can't waste any time." Ayumi said, they headed out of the locker room determined.

"Naomi?" A familiar voice called at her. They both could've dropped to their knees right then and there. After everything they had been through, all to see their friends again here was their reward. Seiko and Satoshi standing here in the flesh right in front of them. Naomi couldn't contain herself, tears streamed down her face, her and Seiko ran up to and hugged each other tightly both talking over each other about how much they had missed one another.

Ayumi walked forward a bit and watched as Satoshi came up to her, Ayumi let him hug her, "Glad you're both okay." He said to her softly. Ayumi hugged him back and cried. It was a friend hug clearly, followed with a soft pat on the back but Ayumi was still completely taken over by it the, the feeling was exactly what she needed. They let go and Satoshi switched his hug to Naomi.

Seiko wiped away a tear and smiled at Ayumi. "Ha what's up class-rep, you're looking well." Ayumi smiled back, "Thanks but I'm not feeling it." "Don't blame you." Seiko said before they exchanged a hug.

Soon they were all sitting down in small circle, it was time to catch everyone up. Ayumi had the most to say, it ranged from : _we caused the earthquakes_ to _the little girl in the red dress is actually the murderer_ to _the closed spaces are breaking down_ to _we've spent most of our times searching for tongue's_ and so on. The new's of Ms Yui had to be shared too, they all gave a mournful minute of silence. Ayumi started to cry silently, she was going to miss her so much. "Hey, Ms Yui was a great teacher, she would have wanted us to get out..." Satoshi said mostly to Ayumi. She nodded and stifled her tears.

"We found this too." Satoshi said holding out Yoshiki's student ID. Ayumi's stomach turned, if something happened to anyone else because of her she didn't know what she'd do. "Where was it?" She asked.

"Outside of the infirmary...where all the blood was." Seiko said sounding uneasy.

"Oh god." Naomi said. "We saw the blood... but this wasn't there."

"That's good, maybe he dropped it after whatever caused the blood stain happened, which means it had nothing to do with him." Seiko said sounding hopeful.

Satoshi pocketed the ID, "You're right and anyway I'm not going to assume the worst, anything could have happened." They gave each other awkward glances.

"So tongues...that's what you've been looking for?" Seiko sounded grossed out at the idea.

"Yeah. We thought we needed two more but now I don't know what we'll need to appease Sachiko." Instinctively Ayumi grabbed at the tongue bag in her pocket for confirmation it was there, but she felt nothing. 'No I was holding it wasn't I?' Ayumi started patting herself down frantically. "No no please No."

"What is it what's wrong!?" Naomi asked, she was exhausted, neither of them could take much more of anything so the panic in her voice was evident.

Ayumi sobbed. "It's not here it's gone, It's...it's in the pool." She said realising the sad truth. Naomi put her face in her hand's. The other's watched them with dread. "So we go get it." Satoshi said with courage. "But the pool, if the blood's still there...It's not something you can swim in Satoshi." Naomi said with a sort of sharpness in her voice. "We could drain it." Ayumi suggested. Naomi thought it over, "Okay but what if it drains the bag too." Ayumi rubbed her face, "I don't know but we don't have a choice we need that bag." They had went through so much to get it, the thought of it lying back down there at the bottom of the blood covered, corpse filled pool which contained the remains of their own teacher made Ayumi more than just sad, but angry too. She stood up and the others did the same.

"It's okay we can get it we just have to..." Ayumi stopped herself, Satoshi and Seiko were staring behind her and Naomi with wide eyes. "Look." Seiko said pointing.

Behind them was a monster. Ayumi recognised him. It was the man who blindfolded her in Yuki's vision, but he was different now, dead for sure. A terrifying walking corpse with no life left in him. "Run!" Seiko shouted. All simultaneously Naomi and Ayumi turned to run and Satoshi and Seiko were grabbed violently from behind by none other than the last ghost girl who's tongue they had just lost, the one with no head. She was very small but had a tight grip, Satoshi and Seiko were trapped. Instead of running Ayumi and Naomi stopped but before they could do anything to help their friend's the monster Yoshikazu was on them.

All four of them were dragged away. Sachiko observed happily.


	11. Burn, Sinner

"Kizami stop please Let me go!" Yuka wailed, she had recovered from the punch but couldn't find enough strength to get away from Kizami."

Kizami wasn't hearing any off it. This...this was the best day of his life, he had done it, killed almost everyone he really wanted to kill! 'If only Shimada was around, I'd gut him with his own knife,' Kizami smiled to himself ignoring Yuka's screams and kicks and pleas. 'I'll take her somewhere, I'll tie her up. I'll give her a choice, sister or death.' It all made perfect sense in Kizami's mind.

 _"No."_

"Hmm" Kizami stopped. "Who said that?"

"Behind you shitface." Sachiko had learned that word from one of her many victims, she thoroughly enjoyed using it.

Kizami turned around. Yuka just sobbed and grabbed at his hand trying to unclasp his fingers from her clothes. He was not yet threatened. "What do you want?"

Sachiko grinned. "I'm preparing for an event." She said happily. "The only thing missing is my guests, It's going to be a big show and I'd like everyone to be there."

Kizami looked confused but quickly plastered on his regular steely glare. He smiled. "I'm afraid I have other matters to attend to right now." He turned to walk away.

 **It wasn't a suggestion it was an order!**

Kizami stopped again infinitely more pissed off. "Look bitch I don't care I said I'm bus-" he turned around and she was gone. "Tch." He kept walking. Yuka was becoming more exhausted and beginning to put up less of a struggle.

Kizami used his free hand to scratch his other wrist. Something was bothering him, some kind of sting or burning sensation. He looked at Yuka, she wasn't doing anything. He ignored it and walked.

"Kizami please stop this...I'm not your sister...I'm sorry" Yuka pleaded with him.

"You should be sorry...sorry for being a liar."

The burning became more persistent, ignoring it became harder. "God dammit!" He threw Yuka to the ground and put his foot on her back to stop her from running while he checked. He pulled up his sleeve. The wrist on his right hand was bleeding, a perfect circle all the way around. "The hell! The Hell is this?!" The blood trickled all the way down his arm, it looked like a cup that was over filling causing beads of liquid to run down the side. He stared at it mesmerized, faintly he used his index finger to trace over it. There was more blood, it felt as if there were an invisible wire around it being tightened and cutting deeper into his flesh and even right into the bone. "Grr. Stop." He grabbed his wrist. Something wasn't right, it was...more...precarious. Like it wasn't properly attached.

"Ahhhh" he screamed at what he saw and felt next. His hand was tearing away at one side, sliding off. Kizami's reflexes made touch it again and try to sit it back into place, it only made things worse. His whole hand was now dangling by one bit of skin. Kizami fell backwards screaming. Yuka started screaming as well, too shocked by the sight to run.

Yoshikazu walked over to Yuka. He picked her up. He wasn't rough with her, he didn't need to be. He walked away with her leaving Kizami to scream in horror at his empty wrist space. His hand was hanging on by one thin shaft of skin and blood was pouring out of it relentlessly. There were soft footsteps approaching him.

"Hehe, It's okay shitface I might need you." Sachiko said in her childish, playful tone. She held up an iron. It wasn't plugged into anything so it couldn't possibly be hot is what Kizami was thinking. Sachiko smiled fiendishly. The halls of heavenly host were filled with the sounds of sizzling flesh and deafening screams.


	12. Break Your Knees

"Get off!" Yoshiki boomed. Yoshikazu didn't even flinch. Unlike Yoshiki, Morishige had remained silent, letting himself get dragged around this school like a puppet.

"Fuck, Morishige, at least act like you don't want to die!" Yoshiki yelled at him, his fingers clawing at Yoshikazu's hand.

"It's not that. ..I just don't think I'll have much luck resisting no matter what I do." Morishige explained calmly. His foot hit off a sharp shard of wood sticking up, he barely flinched.

"That's not the point." Said Yoshiki through gritted teeth. He tried desperately to pull away from the monsters grip, nothing worked, Yoshikazu wasn't relenting, he barely seemed to notice he was holding anything. "AGH!" Yoshiki kicked in frustration. Morishige just looked on sad, and thoughtful.

"Then what is the point?" Morishige asked vacantly, with a glance over at Yoshiki.

Yoshiki stopped struggling, for a moment to catch his breath, "Point is not just giving in!"

"But what if you've already lost?"

"You've 100% lost if you've given up." Yoshiki retorted, squirming again.

"That was rather poetic, Kishinuma."

"Fuck you."

They both felt a sharp pain at each of their sides when without warning they were dragged through a narrow doorway. Yoshikazu was keeping up the point that he didn't care much if their bodies hit off anything.

It was then that the monster began to slow down; they were here. Both Yoshiki and Morishige frowned in confusion at the setup surrounding them. Each time they scanned the room they noticed something that made their eyes widen just a little bigger. "What the fuck is this?" Kishinuma whispered under his breath.

'I wonder what's going on here' Morishige thought.

* * *

"Let go!" Ayumi yelled one last time. It felt like they had been dragged around forever when finally they were released, thrown down to the ground in a neat little row.

Naomi observed her surroundings, something was not right. The area they were in was a large room with a stage to her left side, the walls and floors were wood but not like the rest of the school; this particular flooring was a lot cleaner and a lot less done in.

Naomi had lost track of where they were some time ago but she figured they were in an Auditorium. A part of the school they had not yet been. The location though, wasn't what was on the forefront of her mind. Including her and her friends, the room was packed with teenagers, all on their knees. There was flames, red flames blocking all the double door exits. The ghost girl Tokiko and the large man Yoshikazu stood around them like prison guards. Naomi took a shaky breath. She counted six others. Her, Satoshi, Ayumi and Seiko were lined out next to each other, to the left of them were three boys all wearing the same uniform -they had maroon coloured blazers- and a girl who she guessed was wearing the female version of the same schools uniform. At the far right side of them were two scared young looking girls wearing the same uniform which was a beige skirt and jacket. "What...is this?" Naomi asked herself aloud.

The four of them exchanged heart-wrenchingly nervous glances. Some people were crying, some people were scared and others just looked angry. Nobody dared make a move.

"Hey! What the fuck is this!?" One of the other schools boys started yelling, his red hair whisking and his blue eyes glinting. Respectively, the girl with no head didn't answer and neither did the speech impeded zombie. "Screw this." He bellowed angrily. He started to move, it was clear to anyone that he was trying to stand up, but he couldn't. "The hell! I can't move!" His other two male classmates watched him with wide eyes and the girl beside them followed suit in trying to stand up. With an ache in her chest Naomi realised what was happening. It wasn't just them, no one could move. Their top halves work fine but them and everyone else soon realised they were pinned to the ground. The boy with the red hair, Kai Shimada, fired a callous glare behind him, where Yoshikazu stood unimpressed. "If you thing's don't let us out of here I'll fucking kill you-" Yoshikazu cut him off by forcefully slamming his foot into Kai's back. The girl beside him squealed.

"A-are you okay, Shimada?" One of the other boys asked with a stutter. His name was Tomohiro Ohkawa, he had brown sort-of curly hair and like Kai, blue eyes. Ohkawa was sat next to his best friend, Ryosuke Katayama, light brown hair and green eyes. Anyone could tell Ohkawa and Ryosuke were close, with the way they seemed to huddle in to one another protectively.

Kai coughed violently and with a grunt attempted to push himself back up, "What do you think?" he said coldly.

At the other side of this hastily laid out circle the two younger girls were talking quietly to each other. Both young and pretty, one with light brown hair and blue eyes and the other with chestnut coloured hair and purple eyes. "What do you think's going to happen to us, Nari?" Nana Ogasawara, the girl with the blue eyes asked.

Nari Amatoya observed the room, "I don't know...Nothing good can come from this." Her firm expression and serious eyes seemed to add years to the young girls face.

Nana looked at her sadly, "At least we're back together." Nari flashed an unconvincing smile. The two girls had been separated the whole time they were in here. Wandering aimlessly, calling out each others names. Now they were finally reunited, only after being dragged here against their will. It was nothing short of cruel.

Everyone watched as Yoshikazu lazily made his way out of the Auditorium.

"Naomi." Naomi who had been observing blankly turned to Satoshi, who sat on the other side of Seiko. Satoshi gave her a sorrowful pout. "You okay?"

Naomi opened her mouth to answer but wasn't sure what to say. She shook her head and was instantly angry with herself for not just lying. Satoshi spoke up addressing all of them this time, "It'll be alright, we'll get out of this." Naomi kept her head down, Seiko nodded in agreement and Ayumi stared on, she heard him and was glad he was speaking but couldn't bring herself to stop shaking long enough to say anything to any of them.

It was a short while later Yoshikazu returned. "Eeek stop please let go mister." A voice from outside the auditorium carried in faintly. Satoshi's head shot up. Yoshikazu stomped back into sight holding the helpless Yuka, who he dropped down only a bit away from Nana and Nari's side.

"Yuka!" Satoshi shouted.

"Big brother!" She whined back. Satoshi was sure to aim his disgust in Yoshikazu's direction before the beast turned and left again.

The Kisaragi student's, whose jaws had dropped the moment Yuka arrived watched Satoshi as he desperately stared on at her with a look of fear and longing.

Mitsuki Yamamoto eye's darted between Satoshi and Yuka helplessly. Her empathy grew, realising the two were related, so close yet so far.

Yuka was crying, relieved to see her brother but scared out of her mind. All she wanted to do was run over and hug him but she couldn't even do that.

"It'll be alright Yuka, don't worry this will be over soon." Satoshi called fearfully. He wanted to convince himself just as much as Yuka. It was his job to look out for her. He had to get to her, to make sure nothing bad happened to her.

There was a patting sound. It was the pitter-patter of tiny feet. Then it was a scratching sound, like fingernails on wood. An innocent humming was approaching. Sachiko pranced into the room, skipping lightly into the centre. There she stood before them, the little girl in the red dress. Everything was still.

Ayumi instantly caught her eyes, the feeling was horribly reminiscent, these were the same cold grey eyes that had stared her down while the _snip snip_ of the brandished scissors played in her ear, and now here they were again, exactly the same. She felt weak, the air in her lungs was gone, her voice caught in her throat. Ayumi whimpered which made Sachiko smile.

Sachiko dragged her toenails across the wooded floor, causing a deafening screech. Then she laughed. It was that same innocent giggle that had sounded when she was murdering kids her own age. It was all too the same. 'I'm going to die for real this time.' Ayumi thought with a shiver

There were murmurs between friend's and sobs that had been pushed down deep broke up into the air. "Alright everyone calm down." Sachiko said putting her arms out and motioning them down to inflate her words. She sounded so childlike, she was a child. But the air around her was nothing but sinister. A person like Ayumi with her supposed connection to the spiritual world could literally feel the malicious energy radiating off of her. Not just malicious, painful and tragic and damaged and so so angry. The only innocent thing was that she died as a child, her brain still underdeveloped and childish mannerisms never ceasing. 'Doesn't change the fact that she' still a murderer.' Ayumi thought with bitterness.

"I know everyone's confused but I assure you this is for your benefit." Sachiko smiled. She begun to strut around the students as she talked, "You see, there has to be nothing worse than a repeating of the same horrible fate over and over again." She drew the words 'over and over again' out in a dull tone for emphasis, swirling her hand around. "So." She perked up, "If you have to go then why not go in new and exciting ways." She stopped smiling and stood still. Giving a blunt: "Go as in die."

* * *

Kishinuma and Morishige were thrown to their knees painfully. They were not directly but somewhat across from their dazed classmates. The four Kisaragi students on the opposite side looked from one to the next before their heads simultaneously turned to their fellow new-arrival classmates.

Yoshiki's pupils expanded to twice their normal size as soon as he caught Ayumi's gaze. She was staring straight at him, although he couldn't be sure if she was looking right through him, she seemed in shock. Yoshiki tried to stand up, to go to her, but quickly realised that wasn't going to be an option. He glazed over Naomi and Seiko and his eyes caught Satoshi's. They both gave each other a look, a look that only best friends could share; this one said many things along the lines of: _Good to see you're not dead, don't know what's happening, we have to get out of this._ Satoshi motioned to Yuka and Yoshiki understood that getting away from here was extra necessary for him.

Sachiko, who now stood in the centre of them all clapped her hands together loudly. She gave an almost adorable smile. "Yay, everyone's here! I was getting impatient." "Good work dumb-ass" She said to Yoshikazu, who just grunted.

Morishige scanned the room for Mayu. A lump in his throat caught. If 'everyone' was here then where...

"Listen up everyone." Sachiko demanded, "Don't ever for a second think because you were safe here before that you'll be safe again." No one had any clue what she was talking about. "Things are going different this time. I'm bored of more of the same I want more death!" She whined that last part petulantly. "My school, my home, MY rules you... fuckers" She was unsure of that last part, it was obvious she wasn't use to swearing. She pouted childishly when she didn't get a response, skimming over each of her future victims.

"No. Why would you be doing this?" The young girl, Nana spoke up. "I saw the paper you're the victim...Sachiko." Sachiko gave a sly closed mouth smile, she peered over her shoulder at Nana.

"That's wrong!" Ayumi shouted louder and braver than she intended too. All eyes were on her. She stared regretfully at Sachiko. "The killer...she's the killer." Eyebrows across the room raised and squinted.

"The fuck is she talking about!?" Kai exclaimed to his group.

Sachiko's head dropped to the ground and she let out a shoulder shaking laugh. She peered back at Ayumi. Her hair drooping down and covering her eyes. She tilted her head up. "Bingo." Nobody moved. Sachiko one drawn out step at a time made her way over to Ayumi. "You." She looked Ayumi dead in the eyes.

"Back off Sachiko!" Yoshiki yelled from across the room.

She ignored and kept going. "You tried to take something of mine."

"No!" She said more angrily, "You already took a few things of mine...It's wrong to steal."

Ayumi's whole body tensed up as she neared. If he could move Yoshiki would have been about ready to pounce on Sachiko from across the room.

A few inches from Ayumi, Sachiko leaned down and out of her enclosed hand dropped the tongue bag, the strap dangled from her finger. Tokiko who was still standing as a guard flinched imperceptibly.

"No, No it's not yours! None of them you are! You stole them!" Ayumi shouted, her voice hoarse. Sachiko's eyes darkened. It was a stare off. Sachiko's fingers twitched. Ayumi could hear her heartbeat ringing in her skull.

* _Boom Boom, Boom Boom, Boom Boom, Boomboomboomboom*_

Sachiko pulled away suddenly and quickly, startling Ayumi. "Screw this." She moaned launching the tongue bag away and making her way back to the centre. Tokiko's headless space following it. "No more waiting! Who's first!"

Everyone flinched. Sachiko moved her head from student to student, sizing everyone up. She childishly stomped up to Yoshiki. She bent down to him and reached out her hand, "Actually one more thing." Sachiko in one swift movement pulled out the knife he had pocketed from the girl in the science lab and threw it down behind her, completely out of reach. It was a cross knife, almost like a mini sword. This blade was gorgeous but Sachiko stared at it with disgust, like it was true evil.

Morishige, ever the observer, noted it's faintly noticeable eerie glow and the way Sachiko seemed to flinch at the mere sight. 'Kryptonite' he thought.

Sachiko giggled turning her head back to Ayumi. "At least you done us all one favour. Because of you we all get to be here together."

Ayumi was confused, but it only took her a second before she figured it out. 'The closed spaces...I broke them down.'

"Let's start off easy." Sachiko began. One individual in particular was especially shaky and never that much fun to observe in the past. She stomped up to Ryosuke and grabbed the back of his blazer dragging him and throwing him down violently into the centre.

"No!" Ohkawa yelled. That made Sachiko smile, she was always glad when people they cared about got to see. She tilted her head as she watched him try to push himself up. With that she put one foot on his back and pushed down. There was a cracking sound and a scream from Ryosuke. Blood emerged from his mouth instantly.

"Jesus." Naomi winced. Yoshiki yelled something. Someone said "don't!" Nana impulsively looked away and Yuka covered her eyes. It wasn't enough for Sachiko yet. This time she jumped, right onto him. Her tiny legs held more power than Ryosuke could have ever imagined. He felt like someone had dropped a ton of cinder blocks on his back. He let out another brutish scream.

Ohkawa screamed just as violently, howling at Sachiko to stop with tears and snot running down his face. Sachiko only marveled in it laughing and jumping on Ryosuke's back making a cracking sound each time she did. It wasn't long before Ryosuke didn't have the strength left to scream like Ohkawa, only loud moans of pain. It was clear that what was happening to him was agony. The maroon blazer students also known as the Byakudan students excluding Kai were crying while the Kisaragi students just stared in horror. Naomi covered her mouth wanting to scream herself while Satoshi joined in with Ohkawa screaming at Sachiko to stop.

 _*Crack* *Splatter* *Rip* *Bash*_

It went on until he was dead and even after. She kept jumping up and down even spinning around on his back. Ohkawa cried, not just cried he wailed openly, so blinded by tears all he could see was the red spilling out of his friends motionless body.

"Hahahahaha! This is IT!" Sachiko roared. "It's exactly what I wanted! Next NEXT **NEXT**." She stepped off the body and circled her victims with a fast pace. Leaving bloody footprints in her wake. Yoshikazu begrudgingly tredded over and grabbed Ryosuke's body, he dragged it away trailing blood as he did. He pulled it right past Morishige and Yoshiki.

Morishige was hard to read, his eyes were wide. He definitely wasn't expecting this. Yoshiki had a face of pure rage and disgust, he gazed at Ayumi who with sparse tears running down her face shot a look of disgust at Sachiko not too far off from his own. Satoshi looked mortified, he focused his eyes on Yuka who was quivering in fear, she had her hands clasped together on her knees and was rocking back and forth.

Sachiko stopped genuinely torn. There was too much choice in one place and too many important questions like _Who would scream the most? Who has the most friends here? Whose death would get the most attention?_ She smiled wretchedly. Her gaze landed on the three younger girls. Surely killing little girls was the worst of the worst. 'Although maybe not because no one cared when I died.' That thought made her angry. She gave a bloodthirsty walk over to the girls and grabbed the one that was giving her the annoying stare. "We'll see if anyone cares about you." She said aloud even though no one knew what she meant. 'How disrespectful, at least try to look scared' She thought. This one was the only one of them that wasn't shaking in fear and that made her angry.

Nari was dragged into the middle and this time Sachiko dropped her on her knees. Nari put both hands down to stop herself hitting the floor. Then she sat up. Sachiko walked around to the front of her. Again there were more shouts at her to stop. They only fueled her. There were even words thrown at her she had never heard before, bad word's she assumed. "Scream." She ordered looking down at the girl. Nari did nothing. Sachiko decided to do this one a little differently, drag it out a little. They had all day so why not. Sachiko slapped Nari. Nana whimpered from the side. Nari bravely looked back up at Sachiko. It wasn't what you would call a steely glare, she was scared and it showed, but there was defiance there.

 _*Slam*_

Sachiko kicked her swiftly in the stomach and she fell back with a moan. "Sachiko stop this, whatever we can do for you we'll do it just stop!" Ayumi pleaded amongst the many cries. Sachiko turned her head to her but then went straight back to Nari. She pulled her foot up but stopped herself. 'No too predictable.' "Hey idiot!" She yelled at Yoshikazu, "Get my tools" Yoshikazu grunted and disappeared. He appeared half a minute later with a box of heavy tools.

People could be heard grimacing openly. Morishige stared with awe, not because he was enjoying what was happening but because it was all so surreal and well played out. The way she spoke the way she moved, Sachiko was an actress, a true performer.

Sachiko started rummaging through the tools pulling one's out randomly and eyeing them like a child who didn't know what they were used for. She placed some of the down beside her. "A hammer" She remembered aloud looking at the tool she was holding. As if experimenting Sachiko suddenly slammed it down on Nari's leg. Earning a screech of pain. "Okay so that works." She observed, putting it down.

'Wait'. Sachiko went still, just now remembering what hammers were used for other than to smash people to bits. She rummaged her small hand right to the bottom of the tool box and emerged with an assortment of nails and screws.

"Fuck sake." She heard Kai say. Nari tried to push herself away but Sachiko was quick to grab her by the ankle and drag her back over. She positioned herself over Nari and begun. First place to start was an easy choice. Sachiko picked up a nail with her small fingers and bashed it in to the lower part of Nari's leg. Nari held in her scream as much as she could but her pain showed. "You can do better." Said Sachiko dejectedly.

Sachiko picked up the pace, one after another she hammered five nails all the way down the bottom half of Nari's beautiful long legs. Blood trickled down to the floor, joining Ryosuke's stain.

Some of the onlookers grew more fearful, but some grew more enraged and with that more determined.

Sachiko then tried the top half off the other leg, right into the strange skin on the knee. That hurt the most. Nari bellowed in pain. Sachiko didn't stop for a break, her hands finding their way back into the box and with that more nails. She slammed them into Nari's hands sloppily. And then into each of her finger nails on the other hand. Nari screamed and the people forced to watch all screamed and cried and some gripped their heads and some looked away and some couldn't look away. "Almost done." She said so quietly only she could hear. The face, last but not least. Different parts of Nari's face were crammed agonisingly with nails, her body convulsed until Sachiko slammed a rather long one right into her eye. Nari was now motionless. Nana practically had her face on the ground, covering her eyes and screaming. Sachiko propped herself onto her knees and loomed over Nari's dead body. She looked up. For a single moment all went silent. Then in an instant her stone cold expression turned to glee as she stood and happily cheered: "Next!"

Yoshikazu dragged Nari's body away.

'Fuck that.' Yoshiki thought. Enough was enough.

"You." Sachiko called, her eyes on Yuka. "You annoy me." Sachiko casually strode up to Yuka ignoring Satoshi's pleas and shouts.

"It's alright Yuka, It'll be alright." He shouted at her.

Yuka cried for her big brother.

Naomi burst into tears and Seiko stabbed at her own eyes not daring to see anymore.

Sachiko was only a few feet away from Yuka now.

"Hey Sachi." It took Sachiko a second to register "You crazy little bitch wait up a second." Sachiko stopped in her tracks, she became as stiff as a board. No one had ever spoke to her so casually and so disrespectfully, I mean come on she hadn't even done anything yet. What murder two people and now she's a _bitch_!? And Sachi? 'How dare they!' "It's Sachiko!" She roared turning to the person in question.

Then she saw who it was. Sachiko completely ignored the path to Yuka and instead made her way slowly to Yoshiki. "You." She said.

"Me." He confirmed, fixing her a cold glare.

Sachiko looked at Yuka and then him. Considering. "What do you want?" She gave him a _Go on then_ look.

"Come here then." He hummed alluringly.

Everyone was still in anticipation. The Kisaragi student were especially incredulous.

She leaned down to him slowly. And it was so sudden, her face was wet. He had spit on her. "Fuck you and your games, you're not fooling anyone you scared bitch."

Yoshikazu flinched waiting for an order, he had his hammer at the ready. 'Great' Yoshiki thought, he hadn't thought this far ahead.

"Scared?" Sachiko twitched, wiping her face in repulse. "I'm not scared. You're ₴₵₳ⱤɆĐ!" That last word was spoken in a truly demonic inflection.

Satoshi flinched the most, watching Yoshiki with fear and concern.

 _'How dare he? Scared? Who does he think he is?'_ Sachiko violently stomped back to the cross knife. Picking it up, she pivoted and went straight back to Yoshiki and in a second she had stuck it furiously down into the back of his left hand, pinning it to the ground. "Grrr Fuck." He yelled out in pain.

"Yoshiki!" Satoshi shouted. Seiko covered her mouth.

Sachiko turned to everyone. "Next time it will be his ƒµȼЌɨɲǥ face so take that as a WARNING! Don't be disrespectful! don't **TALK BACK**!" Sachiko was furious, her voice a mix between petulance and rage, on the verge of a full on temper tantrum.

Yoshiki was wincing in pain, digging at his impaled hand. Morishige peered down at it with concern. He actually felt the urge to help very badly. It surprised him.

Blood squelched from the wound, running down his hand, through his fingers and onto the floor.

Sachiko couldn't even remember who she was going to kill. Didn't matter, a new target had been decided on. She had it out for Kishinuma now and knew exactly how to get to him.

Ayumi was grabbed forcefully by the arm and painfully dragged into the centre. Naomi's attempts to help her were futile, Sachiko easily swatted her away. Rage burned in Yoshiki's eyes but he didn't show fear, not yet.

"That it a warning?!" He spat the words at her. "You weak bitch! There's a reason you won't do it!" He didn't really believe there was a reason but whatever worked. Once again though he hadn't thought past the taunting part, he had stopped her from killing Yuka but what now?

Sachiko turned to him angrily. "Reason? And what might that be?" She sneered at him.

Yoshiki just smiled.

"NO! You think I'm stupid-"

"Yes" He interrupted.

"It wasn't a question!" She moaned curling her fists and stamping her foot on the ground. "You think I'm stupid enough to fall for what you're doing!" 'Not going to happen, I'm the smartest of them here, screw that mean ass!' She thought angrily.

'Oh god, she's going to kill him' Satoshi thought. Ayumi remained in the centre, having pushed herself up she switched from concerned to resentful as her gaze switched between Yoshiki and Sachiko.

Yoshiki could see he was getting to her. He had to push further, but he was testing his luck blindly at this point. "Maybe I'm not doing what you think I'm doing, maybe I'm doing something else entirely and you're just too stupid to figure it out! Would I be right?"

"NO!" She screamed back.

There was a break of silence. "...Bet I'm right."

The others were just waiting for her to snap now, watching in horror. Kai almost smiled. The whole room was tense.

"No you're FUCKING WRONG!"

"Hey! Would your fucking mother appreciate that language!?" He paused and gave a sly smirk. "Whatever happened to her!?" Honestly Yoshiki didn't know what happened to her mother at all, it was a long shot.

It worked.

"BASTARD!" She screamed charging up to him. The students, especially the ones of Kisaragi flinched dramatically. Yoshiki flicked his head to the side in a _bring it on_ manner.  
She stopped a few inches from his face. The anger, the rage, the hatred it was palpable.

Yoshiki stared her dead in the eyes, he was shaking lightly but was doing his best to hold it together in front of Sachiko. He felt the pain in his hand, it was fire, it burned so bad. It made him want to scream but he didn't want to give her the satisfaction.

He needed to do something but had nothing, no cards left to play. Taunt her again and she might just be done with him or maybe to prove a point she'd experiment on someone else. Ayumi caught his eye. There was a moment, a moment when they made perfect eye contact, he saw the fear in her eyes and she saw the fear in his, time almost stopped. If not for himself then he had to at least do something for her. Then it became clear, Yoshiki realised that Sachiko herself had given him what he needed. The weapon was a shiny little knife, one currently skewered in his own hand. It was right there. Willpower, that's what he needed, just enough to surpass the pain and pull it out. Not to mention actually having to land a hit. It would all have to go down quick. This was the exaggerated definition of a long shot. Afterwards he was sure he would be giving everyone a chance at escape. ...He _hoped_ he would be giving them a chance at escape.

Everything inside him was screaming at himself to just keep his mouth shut. He couldn't lie and say he wasn't terrified. Yoshiki didn't want to die. But for now he would keep his composure, like he always does. He only had to hold out a little longer.

Sachiko was giving him the look of death. Yoshiki held her stare, subtly shifting his hand around trying to loosen the blade. Sure this could go a magnitude of horribly bad ways but one way meant his friends might have a chance at escaping. His heart was beating out of chest, he tasted blood, his stomach dropped and it burned inside him to the point where it was painful. He counted down. '5...4...3...fuck this.'

Yoshiki ripped the knife from his hand and despite his hasty aim managed to plunge it directly into Sachiko's face. Yoshiki screamed in agonizing pain. Yoshikazu roared from somewhere behind him. Sachiko lunged backwards scratching at her face. The cross knife glowed brighter. Sachiko stopped, she faltered for a second as if giving herself a second to realise what had just happened before letting out the loudest and most painful inhuman screech. Her Body twisted and contorted as she stumbled around clawing at the knife.

Ohkawa for the first time properly observed what was happening. That bitch was killing more people. Then he felt it. The force that was pulling him down grew weaker. He could almost move.

Sachiko ripped the knife from her face with a blood curdling scream, she ran at Yoshiki and pushed him down, towering on top of him, holding up the knife ready to plunge it in to his heart. Despite the pain Yoshiki managed to haphazardly smack her in the gut, but it only faltered her for a second.

His legs, Ohkawa felt his legs, they were his again. He could move. He gawked mournfully at the blood of his best friend. The one Sachiko murdered. He didn't deserve that, she did. Sachiko deserved it. "AHHHHHH" Ohkawa out of nowhere screamed a war cry. He threw himself up and charged straight for Sachiko, tackling her right off Yoshiki when the knife was only a few inches from his chest, it fell to the side. Everyone stared at the them with open mouths. Yoshikazu had been too busy trying to help Sachiko to have been worrying about bashing anyone's skulls in. Now he was clumsily running for his hammer.

Naomi was the first to snap out of it, letting herself feel the sensation in her legs, they worked. She stood up hastily. "Run!" That one word was like the first domino in a long line. Everyone in the room simultaneously came to their senses, throwing their bodies up and running. It was madness. Sachiko was screaming, she screamed at Yoshikazu to get them! He very sluggishly and neglectfully started trying to throw his big hands towards the fleeing children. Yoshiki stayed lay on his back panting heavily, the wind had been utterly knocked out of him. So much so It was taking him a second to realise the pressure was off of him. He began to cough, gulping in large amounts of air while his body desperately tired to recover itself. He could feel the vibrations around him as everyone fled, he could see their figures blurring past him in slow motion. Morishige lent over him and grabbed the knife. "Kishinuma, get up!" To the left off him Sachiko had got the upper hand on Ohkawa, he was long past saving.

Suddenly it wasn't just Morishige telling him to get up, Satoshi was over him now shouting at him and grabbing his arm. He was torn back into reality, and suddenly he could hear the screams and see the terror. He grabbed Satoshi back and let him help him up. Now he saw everything. Pure chaos, people were desperately trying to stick together and get away at the same time, Yoshikazu was very unevenly swinging his hammer from left and right, making more hits to the floor than anyone else.

The Kisaragi students managed to get next to each other. Yuka held her brothers hand tightly. "Come with us." Satoshi called to the lost looking Nana, she ran to them. The red flames made no efforts to stop them from leaving. Sachiko who had been excessively beating Ohkawa's definitely dead body snapped out of her blood lust. She stood and turned. Everyone was running, she saw the last of them disappear out the doors.

From behind the fleeing students was a scream so loud the ground shook. Ayumi personally took that as Sachiko's way of saying _I'm coming for you._

* * *

A/N

This was really good to finally write. I had the basis of this idea since before I actually started this story. Different versions of it played out in my head but this was what I settled on. And it works for the rest of the story since things have just kinda fell into place. I already have the next three chapters pretty much finished.

I had been writing ideas and dialogue for it down while writing the other chapters so I ended up with a mess of notes to sort through and order, but I like how it came out so I'd say it was worth it. Writing about/from Sachiko's mind is always fun since she's such a psycho but like in the good way. Not like what she does is good but her character is great to work with. And it's great that she's not so mature either so I can try to lighten the mood with her in between all the brutal murders and the emotional torture. Maybe I should have said this earlier but reviews are always welcome.


	13. Groundwork

"All right everyone calm down." Satoshi was at the front of the classroom playing the roll of the mediator. People were scared, they had saw what Sachiko was capable of and they weren't exactly sure they could hide from her. All of the ten remaining students had ended up together, they made their way into one of the classrooms and hid there in silence until they were sure they were safe. Now there was the question of what to do next.

"Calm down, you kidding?!" Kai shouted to the front of the room, he was leaning nonchalantly on one of the tables with his arms folded. "That crazy bitch is still trying to kill us and there's no way out."

"That's not necessarily true." Satoshi said, he was a born public speaker. "My friend's Shinozaki and Naomi met with the paranormalist, the one that posted the charm we all did that brought us here. She as well as one of the victims, the little girl Yuki Kanno both explained to them methods of escape." He looked at Ayumi who stood up beside him.

"And how can we be so sure she's one of the victims? I mean we thought that red dress was one." Kai asked.

"Because I saw it." Ayumi spoke up, Satoshi had metaphorically passed the mic to her.

"Saw it?" Kai asked skeptically.

"Yuki Kanno showed me what happened with a vision."

Kai looked at her like she was insane and others just gave each other puzzled glances.

Ayumi ignored them and continued. "If we want to get out of here and go home I think our first course of action would be to get the tongue and appease the final ghost child."

"That's what was in the bag right?" Mitsuki asked. "So it's in the stage room?"

"Yes...we'll have to go back there to get it." Ayumi said with a hint of nervousness.

"All of us?" Yuka asked.

"No." Ayumi started on another speech. "That's not the only thing we need so here's what I'm suggesting." She picked up a piece of old chalk and went to the board behind her. "We split up into groups. What we know we need so far is the tongue." She wrote that down. "So I'd say we need at least two volunteers to go back to the Auditorium and retrieve it. But we also need to appease Sachiko." She wrote that down and circled it. "So we'll need volunteers to do some digging on that. I think we should send another party to the infirmary to gather thing's not only in case of emergencies but right now we already have one injury." She looked at Kishinuma's hand so everyone understood. "That will need rubbing alcohol and bandages which I'm hoping will be there, and like I say these things might come in handy later."

"You mean if she tries to kill us again?" Kai said blandly pretending to not be paying attention.

"Precisely." Ayumi said acting like she wasn't bothered by his comments. "Anyone have anything else to add so far?"

"Oh me and Mochida found a tape." Seiko said holding it up.

"Yeah and we heard TV static coming inside the room with the red door. That might have some use if we can get in there and play it." Satoshi added.

Ayumi turned and wrote that on the board.

"I have a key." Yuka said gathering everyone's attention, she held up the red key.

"Custodians closet" Satoshi read off it. "What do you bet this is it."

Seiko laughed out loud. "Yuka you genius." Yuka smiled and handed Seiko the key. "And another thing" Everyone looked at her expectantly. "There's another wing." That got everyone's attention, even Kai looked up. "I woke up there so I don't know how to get to it..."

"It's probably out the exit way." Naomi said. "And that's been locked since we got here."

"Then we'll find a way through." Ayumi said writing this on the board. She calculated in her head and summed it all up. "Okay so the tongue, the tape, the infirmary and the second wing. There is 10 of us, maybe two of us could go in pairs and two in groups of three."

Everyone looked at each other nervously. "Unless anyone has a better idea." Yoshiki said.

No arguments there. "Okay then." Satoshi started. Ayumi had her chalk at the ready. "Who want's to volunteer for what?" No one said anything. Satoshi sighed, "Okay I'll start then, I'll go with someone to the auditorium for the tongue bag."

Naomi hesitated before speaking up, "I'll go with you." Ayumi flinched and Seiko smirked with one raised eyebrow.

Ayumi swallowed. "Okay then...Mochida and Nakashima to the Auditorium." She wrote it down.

"I want to go too. I want to stay together" Yuka said. "I agree we'll stay together." Satoshi nodded.

"I'll go to the second wind." Morishige said. If Mayu wasn't anywhere to be found here that be the place to look.

"Yeah I'll go to." Yoshiki added. Morishige nodded at him.

"You sure you're alright to go with your hand like that?" Satoshi questioned, genuinely concerned. "Yeah I'll find something to wrap it with before I go."

Ayumi put it on the chalkboard. "Shinohara, since you've got the tape why don't you and I go to the custodians closet together."

"All good with me." She said smiling, adding "I know you really just want some quality time with me." Ayumi ignored that and wrote it on the board. "Okay last is the infirmary." She looked at Kai and Mitsuki.

"Hmph, who said I'm volunteering for anything." Kai said arrogantly. "Fine stay here yourself then, I'm going." Mitsuki said giving him a distasteful stare. "Phf, fine whatever." He said rolling his eyes.

"What about you Nana? Who'd you want to go with?" Ayumi asked. Everyone had been avoiding eye contact with Nana, scared she was going to freak out after seeing the only friend she had left here die. Kai was worried she was going to go all 'Ohkawa' on them and start attacking things. "Um' I'll go with Yuka." Yuka smiled at her.

Ayumi wrote it down. "That's everyone. Guess we're doing this."

No one looked pleased about it. They were all exhausted. "How about we get settled and ready for 10 minutes?" Satoshi suggested. There were nods of agreement. They all split up to different parts of the room.

...

Yoshiki and Morishige were talking in the back near the door. "Kishinuma?" Morishige said.

"What's up?"

Morishige gave Kishinuma a serious look. "Sachiko said everyone was there...but yet there was no sign of Mayu, or Ms Yui for that fact." Yoshiki listened in silence with his eyes cast down. "What do you make of that?"

"Um I..." He was at a loss for words. He opened his mouth to speak.

"Maybe I should ask around, see if any of the new people have saw her."

Yoshiki swallowed. "Eh yeah sure good idea." He felt sick.

"You should really do something about that hand by the way." Morishige said wandering off. Yoshiki looked at it, it still hurt like hell. He thought about Mayu and how stupid it was not to tell Morishige. In his growing frustration he dug his nails into his open wound.

"You okay?" Satoshi said coming over. Yoshiki flinched and uncurled his hands. "Yeah I'm good." Satoshi didn't look convinced. "Um here." He handed Yoshiki something for him to wrap his wound in. "Ripped my shirt up a little, just at the back though, its barely noticeable with the blazer on."

Yoshiki nodded appreciatively "Thanks."

Satoshi smiled, "It's good to see you in one piece...I actually wanted to thank you."

"Oh yeah?"

"Ha, yeah...for what you did back there. You saved Yuka y'know." Satoshi said gratefully.

"Oh, no problem I just...wish I had acted sooner." Both of them looked down sadly, the horrors that took place in the auditorium would stick with them for the rest of their lives.

Satoshi perked up, remembering something. "Your ID, I have it. Me and Shinohara found it outside the infirmary."

Yoshiki smiled back, "No way must've dropped it when I was..." he stopped himself before he accidentally revealed anything about the black mist. "Walking." He finished awkwardly.

"Ha, no offense man but you can be a real klutz." Satoshi joked. Yoshiki laughed back. "Yeah well I have my reasons."

Satoshi grew serious again. "I hate to be the one to have to tell you but. He shook his head. "It's Ms Yui she's dead. Shinozaki and Naomi saw." Yoshiki let out a noise.

"I'm sorry you okay?" Satoshi asked. "Yeah, um god that's awful. Poor Ms Yui." Yoshiki said sounding distant.

"Yeah." Satoshi agreed. "Look Satoshi, um I'll tell Morishige okay? It's just they two were together earlier and he's been looking for her. So let me handle it?"

"Oh yeah okay, If that's what you want."

"Big brother." Satoshi turned to Yuka. "I need to talk to you. In private." She whispered the last part.

"Hmm okay." He turned back to Yoshiki. "Talk to you before we go."

"Alright." Yoshiki gave a light nod. He rubbed his face. If Morishige found out Ms Yui was dead and that's the reason she wasn't at the Auditorium it wouldn't be hard for him to deduct the same about Mayu. Yoshiki felt sick, he didn't mean it but he was digging himself in deeper.

...

Yuka pulled Satoshi away. "What is is Yuka?"

Yuka looked at him nervously. "Um it's just..." She gave a glance to the Byakudan students. To what was left of them. "In the other part of the school, I met loads of nice people, they helped me and...they had the same uniform as them on." She motioned to Kai and Mitsuki. "But stuff happened...and they all." Yuka couldn't finish but Satoshi got the message. "I think we should tell them." She added.

Satoshi absorbed that information and sighed, "God...I guess you're right. Come on let's get it over with."

...

Yoshiki stood trapped in his own spiraling thoughts. 'If I had been good enough she wouldn't have died and none of this would be a problem.'

"Are you okay Kishinuma?" Ayumi stood in front of him. "You look down. Does it hurt still?"

He was a little caught off guard, he hadn't properly spoken to her since before the earthquake. He wanted her to know how happy he was to see her but didn't think she'd appreciate it. "Hey...Shinozaki..." He suddenly remembered she had asked a question. "Oh yeah it does hurt a bit but really it's not that bad." That was a lie, it was excruciating.

"Oh you looked like you were in pain." Ayumi grabbed his hand and inspected it.

Yoshiki let a blush slip. "I...Satoshi gave me this." he held up the shred of clothing. "I was just going to wrap it up."

"That was nice of him." Ayumi was thinking about how thoughtful Satoshi was. Without asking she took the shred and started wrapping it around the wound.

"Ow that hurts can't you be gentle." He said wincing.

"No I can't be it has to go around tight." She snapped at him.

Yoshiki just grunted.

"You're an idiot you know." She deadpanned.

Yoshiki was startled by her comment. "Huh what?!" What did I do?"

She scoffed at him. "You acted like an idiot is what you did and almost got yourself killed!" She went silent. "I thought she was going to kill you...God just don't do stuff like that you need to think before you speak." She pulled on the end of the clothing tightening it hard one final time. Yoshiki flinched again.

"Shinozaki. ...Sorry."

She didn't acknowledge the apology. "There, that should do you." She looked him in the eyes. "...Be careful."

...

"So you're coming then or not!?" Mitsuki asked Kai sharply.

"Gah just shut up already I'm coming with you."

Mitsuki went silent. "Asshole."

"What you say?!"

Mitsuki turned away from him. Two of her classmates just died and there was no sign of any of her friends, and who does she get stuck with? This rude selfish heartless prick. She sniffed quietly not wanting him to see her upset.

Kai rolled his eyes. "It's like I can't say anything around here." She didn't say anything. "Seriously since when were you supposed to be the sensitive one?!" She stayed silent. "Grr godsake! Sorry okay you think I want to be here either!? ...Let's just do what we have to to get out." Mitsuki made eye contact, with an irritated expression.

"Excuse me" Satoshi said walking up to them with Yuka. They waited for him to speak. He coughed trying to stall. "My sister...she recognizes your uniforms, she says she was with your friends."

Mitsuki looked at Yuka, "When? where are they now? Are they alright?"

The answers would be 'a while ago, dead, please refer back to the second answer.' But Yuka didn't think that those were good answers.

Yuka whimpered. "I'm sorry."

Her face said it all, Mitsuki fell back on to the desk. Her eyes turned bloodshot quickly. "Okay thanks for telling me." She said her voice cracking. Kai looked thoughtful. "All of them?" He thought out loud. Yuka nodded "I think so." She said. 'Even Kizami then huh, good riddance to him.' he thought.

"If there's anything we can do to help." Satoshi offered.

Mitsuki blinked away tears rapidly and put on a brave face. "Just help us get out of here."

Satoshi nodded, and Yuka gave her an apologetic look.

As soon as they were gone Mitsuki turned and walked further into the corner of the room and sobbed to herself. Kai looked at her and then back to the floor pensively.

...

"You watch yourself out there. Wouldn't want anything bad happening to dat ass." Seiko said grabbing at Naomi.

"Seiko stop!" Naomi begged embarrassed.

"Not like I should be worried for ya right? Not with Mochida around." She winked making Naomi blush.

"I don't even know what you're saying."

Seiko laughed at her friend's red face.

"Seiko seriously you be careful too."

"Always am." They hugged each other.

...

Nana watched somewhat across the room as everyone chatted and wished their friends luck. She was alone now. She had found Chihaya's corpse early on. She could only assume the rest of them were dead. She wanted to cry and she wanted to scream but nothing was there. Nari...the way she went. If she ever got out of here what would she tell her parents? It was so cruel. Nana watched Yoshiki, he saved a lot of people and no one was really acknowledging it. She wished he had done what he did earlier, she was sure he did too. Still he may have not been able to save Nari but what he did was brave and admirable. She herself would have been killed eventually had he not did what he did. Nana decided right there if she was to follow anyone here it would be him. Till the bitter end.

God she was lonely. What would she do now she was all alone?

...

...

Satoshi stood at the front of the classroom again. "Okay is everyone ready to go?" There was nods and unenthusiatic 'yes's' and groans. So this room will be the meeting point, and we'll bring whatever we get back here."

"So what this is like our base now?" Mitsuki asked tilting her head.

"I suppose so."

Ayumi came up and rubbed her work off the board, couldn't have Sachiko seeing all their plans. "Right everyone let's do this."

Everyone split off into their groups, said their final goodbyes and good-lucks and headed off.

* * *

Sachiko sat in the schools basements leaning her chin on her knees, scratching herself repeatedly. Yoshikazu groaned at her.

"I'm going to assume that was you asking 'why aren't we going after them now?' 'why haven't you went up there and **gutted** them already?" She spun around and smiled. "Good question idiot." She licked her elbow.

"It wouldn't be any fun if everyone just died like _that_." She clicked her fingers beside her ear. Or what if they just got lost in the dark and died slowly. No. Boring. They think 'm not actively...whats that word pursing them?" She was trying to say pursuing. "Yeah that, and if they think that they think they have a chance. Because you see..." Sachiko got on her knees and crawled forward. "Giving them 'a chance'" She went on making quotation marks with her hands. "Letting them find 'useful' things...it gives them hope...which gives me a chance to tear it all away."

Yoshikazu grunted again. "I know you're right I am a genius." She was picking at her fingernails lost in thought, planning her next move. She turned around again. On the floor was a hastily drawn child's picture. Sachiko had drawn her own versions of all the remaining students. "Who's next...?" She picked up her red crayon and scribbled over a face.


	14. Farther Away

Party 1

"Do you remember the way back?" Naomi asked Satoshi. The two younger girls talked casually beside them.

"Yeah I kept track when we were running."

"I never would have been able to through all the chaos, glad somebody was paying attention...and I should have grabbed it, the tongue I mean. I wasn't even thinking." Naomi said with self disappointment.

"Naomi like you said it was chaos we were all focusing on getting out of there. Don't beat yourself up about it." Satoshi said genuinely.

Naomi managed a smile. "Thanks Satoshi."

Satoshi smiled back. "We're here...this is it." The entrance to the Auditorium was new to them. In all the times each of the groups had searched the school, no one had come across it and now here it was.

"That didn't take long...I thought we had run further." Naomi said eyeing the entrance nervously.

"What if she's in there?" Yuka asked anxiously.

Satoshi sighed. What if she was? They could be walking right into a trap. Bringing them didn't seem like such a good idea anymore, he just wanted to stay together. "I'll check it out first...see if it's clear."

Naomi wasn't completely comfortable with that. "Satoshi...you don't have to. I could come in with you."

"Thanks but...I don't think it's a good idea to leave them alone." He said motioning to Yuka and Nana.

Naomi frowned a little. "So what, that means it's better for you to be alone?"

"It'll only be for a minute. I'm sure it will be clear and I'll call you all in. This is just a precaution." He said trying to convince her.

Naomi relented. "Okay then...just call for us as soon as it's safe."

Satoshi nodded and hesitantly went through the auditorium door. It creaked closed behind him. Earlier when they had been here the room was bright and well lit. Now it would have been pitch black if it were not for a few stage lights. There were large windows with curtains hanging beside, but little to no light shone through. The atmosphere was chilling. Satoshi let his eyes adjust and looked around. No one was here, everything was still. He could see a sort of black stain on the ground. It was the blood from earlier looking much less gruesome in the dark. There was a noise from the side, Satoshi shot his head round and squinted his eyes. More silence. He took a step forward. He looked around the room again. Nothing. Satoshi exhaled. "Naomi! It's okay you can all come in!"

The door creaked open and footsteps approached behind him...

"It's dark now." Naomi said pulling up beside him with Yuka and Nana in tow. She pulled out her phone for a light source. "Do you remember where she threw it?"

Satoshi spun his head around in different directions. "No and I can't see it."

"We could try spreading out a bit." Nana suggested. "We might come across it quicker that way."

They spread out. Yuka stayed close to Satoshi at first but wandered off when progress became slow to see if she could find it herself.

"Any luck?" Satoshi called over to Naomi.

"Nothing here." Naomi yelled back. They were having trouble finding anything in the dark. The bag was already stained from the blood in the pool so it was probably blending in rather well. If it was even here.

Satoshi heard familiar footsteps approaching while he was searching. Naomi made her way beside him. "I think my sides clear, don't imagine I'll have any more luck with it." Naomi said.

"Yeah might be the same here."

They stared at each other. Satoshi tried to make out her features through the dark. Even when he could barely see them, her dark eyes spoke to him. They spoke soft things that made everything feel better.

Naomi blushed but Satoshi couldn't tell in the dark. "What are you looking at?" She smiled.

Satoshi grew his own blush, realising he had been staring. "Oh uh sorry I was just lost in thought." They went silent again. "Naomi. I'm glad you're alright. When we were separated and didn't know what was happening in this place. I..." Satoshi got nervous and didn't know how to finish.

"Thank you Satoshi. I'm glad you're alright too. You had me worried with you be such a scaredy cat and all but you pulled through, should have known you would."

Satoshi smiled before fully taking in what she had said. "Wait scaredy cat?!" Naomi giggled back. "I mean...you did scream really loud after Shinozaki's story tonight."

Satoshi faked being offended. "That was the thunder. Anyone could get startled by a very loud noise coming out of nowhere." Naomi couldn't help smile again. "Haha okay I get it." They smiled at each other reveling in this moment. This single moment of peace and silence together. No longer alone and no longer scared.

Both of them huddled close and continued their search.

"Huh." Nana spotted something. 'This is it' She thought triumphantly. It grossed her out but she knew it was important, she put it in her coat pocket. Nana turned to call over to the others. She felt something from behind her, like a small breeze. She turned back around. "Hello?" She said quietly. Nothing was there but she kept staring anyway because the space in front of her didn't feel empty, yet with that in mind there was still a sort of vacant feeling in the air. Nana stood in place. There was a bigger breeze that caused her hair to blow back. "What? Who's there?"

It was hard to see, at first Nana thought she was imagining it. But no, something was there, a person but just the shape. This body had no features to it. It was just darkness, like a black sort of mist that had created a person. It's eyes glowed a sort of white and purple. There was no pupils or any shape to them at all. Nana stumbled back screaming and started to run back to the others.

Their heads all shot up. "Nana what is it!?" Naomi shouted running over to her.

"Monster!" She exclaimed pointing. The others looked over, it wasn't just one monster now, there were at least five.

"Crap we have to go." Satoshi shouted. They made their way to the exit. As they were running Naomi felt her body fall forward, her leg was grabbed by an invisible force and she was pulled back across the floor.

Satoshi heard her scream and turned. "Naomi!" He jumped to the floor and grabbed at her arms. He missed by a millisecond. Naomi was pulled back faster, the shadow figures made their way closer. One flew at Satoshi and dissipated in front of him he rubbed off the shock and sprinted to Naomi. There was another scream from behind him. He skidded to a stop. Yuka and Nana had two on them. Nana was thrown like a doll to the door and slammed off it with a crunch, she didn't move. Two of the shadow figures started to wrap themselves around Yuka. She coughed and cried. "No stop! It hurts!" She pleaded. "Yuka!" Satoshi screamed with panic in his voice.

He looked at Naomi, she was being dragged painfully across the ground into the arms of more shadows. "No STOP!" He screamed clutching his head.

Screams came from both directions.

Satoshi ran, he ran towards Yuka grabbing her and swinging his arms like a maniac at the shadows. They started to circle them. Taunting them.

Then they stopped. There was a sizzling sound, the shadows shrieked painfully before evaporating in front of them. Satoshi and Yuka looked at Nana who held a small empty vial in her hands. Satoshi nodded at her gratefully. He quickly turned back to Naomi. There was silence, no more screams, no more shadows. He grabbed Yuka and the three of them ran to the other side of the auditorium. She was gone. There were no exits at this side of the room. "H-how can she. HOW CAN SHE BE GONE!? NAOMI! NAOMI!" He started shouting spinning around in circles to examine the room. "GOD DAMMIT!" He dropped to his knees.

"Big brother..." He heard Yuka say almost silently.

He turned his head to look at her and stood up. "I'm sorry Yuka. I..."

"It's okay...I'm sure they couldn't have gone far." She stopped him.

Satoshi stood with his back to her. He didn't want her to see the tears welling up in his eyes. "Yeah..." But where would they start? She had vanished. What if he couldn't find her? What would he do if he never saw her again? Or if she was already dead?

The three of them stood in the dark silence and waited for an answer.


	15. Revelations

Party 2

"It works" Ayumi said turning the lock.

The custodians closet was a small room with a stove, sink and cabinet to the left of them when they walked in. At the far left corner sat the TV Seiko and Satoshi had heard, it was placed in front of a two door closet.

"There's the TV." Seiko said running over to it. She inserted the tape and waited.

"Shinohara there's no power I don't think that's going to work." Ayumi walked over to her.

As if it heard her the TV's screen suddenly flickered on. Ayumi sat down and watched the tape start up, startled and confused. Seiko grinned in a _you were saying_ manner.

The tape began playing, revealing a tall man standing in the halls of heavenly host. The camera shook and zoomed in and out on the man's face as the camera man tried to get it to focus.

... _Wow, this is incredible! What is this place? Where are we?!_

Ayumi and Seiko sat in silence watching intently as the two men talked back and forward about research and Naho and eventually, a way out. They perked up ready for an answer, but from there things went downhill fast. The camera man started screaming about voices of children and ran off leaving the tall man alone. The tape cut off with him yelling about needing camera blanks. The two girls sat with their eyes wide staring at the blank screen.

Ayumi looked at Seiko. "So there is a way out..."

"Yeah..." Seiko said softly, "But what is it?!"

"There has to be more." Ayumi said standing up. "There has to be an answer! Or another tape or something!"

 _*Bang* *Bang*_

"Ahh"

Both girls turned to the door. Someone was trying to get in. Ayumi instinctively ran up and pushed her body against it. "Who's there!?" She shouted. "I said who's there?!"

* * *

Party 3

Mitsuki and Kai walked to the infirmary in silence. Mitsuki was calculating everything in her head, she knew there was no happy ending here. That was it her life was ruined, she'd either die here or get out and never be able to move on. She would start to lose her mind, her grades would drop so she'd never make it anywhere after school even if she wanted to. Her parents would notice her slow descent into madness and she would spend years in therapy. One day she might crack and tell the truth: that they were transported to a haunted school and her friends were killed by ghosts. Then she would be deemed too crazy to function and locked away in an institution for life. Although even with that in mind here she was fighting to get out. 'Maybe I shouldn't...maybe the next thing that tries to kill me should succeed.'

"Okay." Kai said approaching the infirmary door. "Let's get this over with."

Mitsuki cringed at the blood covered hallway, she tried to ignore it. "Wait Shimada."

"Hm what is it?"

"Do you care?" She asked pensively.

"Care about what?" He said grunting.

"About our friends. Do you care that they're dead? Do you miss them?"

Kai turned away from her exasperated and walked a few feet away. Then he turned and walked back over to her. "Why? Why would that be a question? Cause you think I'm some kind of fucking psycho? Yes some of them I'll miss. I'll get over it one day but I care now! Okay?! Does that answer your stupid question?"

Mitsuki stared back at him with ire in her eyes. She walked through the infirmary door without saying a word. Instinctively she wrapped her arms round herself. The room was definitely a few degrees colder than in the hall.

"You check those cabinets and I'll check over there." She ordered to Kai.

He sighed but didn't dispute. "So that double sided ponytailed chick said this was for future emergencies as well as that guys hand, but really it's that last reason we're here right?"

"So what if it is? If we find anything then it might really be useful later and that guy did save us didn't he?"

Kai thought on that. He wanted to smile at the time just because someone was giving that crazy bitch Sachiko a good telling off, it took balls he supposed. There was somewhat respect there but if the blonde guy or any of his friends for that matter thought he was going to be telling him what to do they were sorely mistaken. Although right now he was in the infirmary because they told him to go. Kai ignored that thought. "He could've acted earlier. I mean he only spoke up when his friend's sister was next on the chopping board."

"Then why didn't you do something? At least he took action at all. We all would have been on that 'chopping board' eventually." She was starting to sound irritated.

"What's the deal you got a thing for this guy?" Kai sneered.

Mitsuki backed away from the cabinet and turned to him. "Screw you I've barely said two words to him!" Though Mitsuki could admit to herself that she was grateful and definitely had someone she looked up to here now. "Don't act jealous just because you didn't do shit for anyone back there, not even our friend!"

"Neither did You Yamamoto!"

Mitsuki paused and took a deep breath, her eyes were wet. "You don't think I know that? I was scared Shimada you happy?" Back in the auditorium Mitsuki had been filled with more fear than she thought possible. She didn't blame herself, not really. It's not like she was the only one who froze.

"I found some stuff we can use." Mitsuki said turning back to the shelf and collecting it all.

"Same here. Guess we're done then." Kai said sounding bored and irritated.

There was the sound of a page turning. "What was that?" Kai asked looking around the room.

"That I think." Mitsuki said standing over the big open book on the desk. "Look's like some kind of diary."

"Leave it alone this room is starting to get freaky." Kai said. Mitsuki kept reading. "What I'm saying is let's go." She kept reading. "Whatever I'll meet you outside." Kai strode to the door and yanked at it. It didn't budge. "What the" Looking closer he noticed it was all tied up with thick long black hair. He backed away. "What the...Yamamoto something's not right here this door is-"

"Shimada I think this is important." Mitsuki cut him off still reading the diary. "It says some stuff about Sachiko."

"Forget about it Yamamoto what I'm saying is..." His eyes widened. "Behind you!" He shouted.

Mitsuki turned to see a woman standing behind her. She looked like some kind of nurse, but her skin was pale and her neck appeared to be broken. Mitsuki screamed and moved out of the way. The whole room began to shake. Moans arose from the disheveled woman. Then in an instant it was flipped. The room was literally flipped upside down. Kai and Mitsuki fell down from the floor to the ceiling painfully.

"What the hell!" Kai shouted. They looked back up at the floor. The furniture and everything else was stuck there upside down. That included the ghost woman, she was upside down and glued firmly to the floor which was now the ceiling. Her neck had snapped down (or up technically). Her distorted sideways neck held the face which looked directly at them with blank eyes. The sight alone made Mitsuki scream in fear and horror. The room started to shake again. They knew what was coming.

"The bed come to the bed!" Kai shouted as the room flipped. Mitsuki ran over momentarily floating in air as it turned. Kai landed harmlessly on the bed and Mitsuki was thrown into the wall beside it. "That looked like it hurt." Kai said. The ghost woman started to walk towards them. "Jesus get up we gotta go!" Kai jumped off the bed and ran for the door pulling at the hair violently. "Shitshitshit."

Mitsuki was still recovering from the hit, crying in pain now. The woman ignored her and kept going for Kai. He turned to her when he realised his attempts were futile. "Get away from me!" He shouted. She only got closer.

 _*Bang*_

Mitsuki with tears down her face smacked the ghost on the back of the head with the heavy book. She was surprisingly solid. The woman dropped to the floor and screamed in anger. Mitsuki jumped past her and out the door which was somehow no longer covered in hair. She held the book firmly. Kai caught his bearings and turned to run. His foot was grabbed and he dropped in between the doorway. "Shit no! Help!"

Mitsuki was already in the middle of the hallway. She stopped and looked back, then she considered. Was he really worth it? 'God what is wrong with you?' She chastised herself. Running back and swiftly kicking the ghost in the face. She let go and Mitsuki and Kai started to run back to the classroom. Before they knew it she was in front of them in the hall. They were forced to turn and run the other way. The fast paced footsteps of the ghost could be heard taunting them from behind. They kept running.

* * *

"I said who's there?!" Ayumi shouted

"It's Yamamoto please let us in!"

Ayumi's eyes widened she backed away from the door and both Mitsuki and Kai ran in clumsily. Kai turned and slammed the door behind him. Everyone went silent. No more footsteps could be heard. Kai breathed out. "I think we're good." He said wearily.

"What do you mean good? What happened out there?" Ayumi asked intently.

"There was a woman." Mitsuki answered dropping the book and touching her extremely sore face. "In the infirmary, she looked like a nurse but her neck was all twisted. She went for us and the room it was upside down."

"Upside down?" Seiko said dubiously.

Mitsuki nodded without further explanation.

"What is this?" Ayumi said going over to the book Mitsuki had just dropped.

"I don't know but I think it's important. Have a look." Mitsuki said prodding at her nose to see if it was broken.

Ayumi picked it up and sat down on the rugged tatami mat looking mesmerized at the book. It had such a strange feeling around it. "1953" She read the date out loud. Seiko dropped beside her. She read the first entry, the diary spared no time before getting into the nitty-gritty of things.

 _While I was working, the principal dropped by. After he and I talked for a bit, he suddenly came up to me from behind. He grabbed me and forced me down, then began unbuttoning my blouse. He'd always been so kind, lending a sympathetic ear to my problems...but today, he didn't even seem like the same man. His eyes were cold and empty. I was in such shock, I'm not even sure exactly what happened to me after that. I slipped away somehow, but he was right behind me. I only made it as far as the landing on the stairs. Just as I turned the corner, I felt him push me... The floor came at me fast, and suddenly, I found myself unable to move. I was slumped across the ground unceremoniously...and I was dead._ Ayumi read over that bit twice, it was too unexpected, too wrong.

 _Sachiko saw everything. I guess she'd come to find me... The principal closed in on her. What was he planning to do? I yelled with every ounce of my strength for him to stop...but I was dead. I had no strength. Sachiko tried to run, but she had the stride of a 7-year-old. He caught her easily. And then, before my very eyes... he strangled the life out of her. What a cruel man... He rebuttoned my shirt, then took Sachiko to the basement and buried her._ Ayumi shook her head in disgust as she read. "I think this was written...by Sachiko's mother."

"Sachiko was murdered by the principal of _this_ school." Seiko said with disbelief.

Ayumi turned the page. Each entry dated. As she read she could picture the woman's descent into madness. The next date was labeled a whole 20 years later. _Little by little, I'm losing my mind. Bit by bit, I'm fading away. A dark will, not my own, has begun infiltrating my being. Make it stop..._

Then it got worse and somehow began to make a sick sort of sense. _She'd do anything for me. She'd even kill lots of people to keep me company. She sends me so many children. I love them all._

Ayumi looked ahead of the page. _But she's not capable of abducting and killing children on her own... She makes that man do the kidnapping for her. Sachiko... Please, stop..._ "That 'man'" Ayumi said. "She means the one with the hammer..."

Sachiko's mother wrote about wanting her to stop...and then she wrote about how she wanted more.

 _The school's been closed down. And the principal jumped off the roof. Serves him right._ Soon the writing was illegible. The four of them sat in silence.

Ayumi flipped the book around and saw it was marked by one 'Yoshie Shinozaki'.

"The principal, this is what we needed to know, he's the one she would need remorse from right?" Ayumi said looking at the others.

"I would say yes." said Seiko. "But where do we start? Where do we find him? Is he even here?"

"It says he jumped off the roof so..." Mitsuki chimed in.

They all glanced at each other. Looking for a solid next move.

"So do we look or do we head back to the classroom and tell the others?" Seiko finally asked.

...

...

* * *

Naomi opened her eyes. She sat up slowly to calm the dizzy feeling. She seemed to be underground. The space was small and dark. "Satoshi?" She said almost voicelessly.

"He's dead." A voice chimed.

Naomi gasped, she turned around to the corner of the room where Sachiko sat watching her with blank eyes. "Dead?" Naomi repeated quietly.

Sachiko smiled but only a little. She made her way closer on her hands and knees. "Dead." She stated coldly. Naomi's heart dropped. They both sat in silence, the only sound was Naomi's heavy breathing.

"Do you know what happens here...when you die?" Sachiko said, not really asking, not really expecting an answer.

Naomi stayed still and silent.

"You feel it." Sachiko said ominously. "The pain. You feel it forever and ever and ever..." The side of her mouth twitched up.

Naomi let out a sound like a cry but only a little one. "Why are you doing this?" She asked.

"Because I like it." Sachiko said blatantly.

Naomi looked down to the ground. Satoshi wasn't really dead was he? And where was she? And where was everyone else? Naomi suddenly felt the urge to scream. And to run. "You don't have to...we could help you."

"No you couldn't!" Sachiko snapped causing Naomi to flinch.

"Why am I here?" Naomi asked timidly.

Sachiko straightened up her posture having finally being asked the question she was dying to answer. "It didn't have to be you...you were just easy catch." Sachiko paused momentarily. "I want to use you. I'm going to use you to get the show I wanted even if it's not how I planned it."

There was a long break of silence.

"You're lying."

"What?" Sachiko said questioningly.

Naomi swallowed and looked at Sachiko. "About Satoshi you're lying...we...and everyone else is going to get out of here."

Sachiko sat with her lips pursed. "Even if..." She stared up at Naomi letting her hair sweep across her face. "Even if you could get out." She tilted her head and gave a sort of condescending grin, "It wouldn't be 'everyone.'" Sachiko eyed Naomi up daring her to ask why.

Naomi unconsciously swallowed again. "Why...what does that mean?" She dared ask. Her voice was wobbly but she had rooted for remaining as composed as possible.

Sachiko clicked her tongue. "Well" She started drawing her index finger round in a circle on the floor. "First off some of you are already dead." She paused, her head was down but her eyes flickered back up to Naomi expectantly.

"You...mean Ms Yui." Naomi said shakily.

"Well sure that would be one of them." Sachiko said as if they were having a casual conversation.

Naomi's stomach dropped. Did she mean Satoshi? Was he really dead?

"Not going to have a guess are you?" Sachiko taunted straightening up again. "Think about it. Who have we not seen since you arrived. Hmm I wonder." Sachiko said with fake bemusement.

Naomi felt awful again. There was one person she could think of. Mayu. She was nowhere to be seen. She just thought that maybe Sachiko had forgot about her, or that she got away or was hiding somewhere in another part of the school. Sachiko grinned knowingly with a smug expression at the look in Naomi's eyes.

"I had her splattered." Said Sachiko cruelly.

"What?" Naomi asked with almost comedic perplexity.

"M a y uuuuu." She mocked. "On the infirmary...I had her splattered." Sachiko sounded childish again.

Naomi whimpered and unconsciously pushed herself further away from Sachiko. Which only made her laugh. The feeling was horrible. She couldn't possibly be dead.

"It's not just her though." Sachiko said with laughter still in her voice. "If there was a way to leave, which there's not." She said firmly. "You would all need your little stupid bits of paper." Naomi knew instantly what she meant, the scrap from the doll. She was sure she still had it.

"And somebody seems to have lost theirs." Said Sachiko menacingly with a chuckle.

"Who?" Naomi couldn't help asking.

"Your best friend. She's lost hers." Sachiko was rubbing her hand up and down her cheek. "Which means she'd be trapped either way. Actually it's basically a death sentence not having it you know." Sachiko sounded almost cheery towards the end of the sentence. "But...I could give it back." She could see she had garnered Naomi's full attention. "I could give her it back and therefore give her a little longer to live. Granted I'd kill her anyway but life's all about who lives the longest so..." She paused. "Obviously I'm not handing these out for free I'd need something from you. And she is the one who went and lost something so important in the first place after all ...clumsy."

Naomi processed that. If they really needed that scrap and Seiko didn't have it, she'd be stuck here. Naomi wondered how Sachiko even knew who her best friend was...had she been watching all this time? Her blood was cold she felt like she was making a deal with the devil. Hesitantly Naomi said "What is it you need?"

Sachiko gave a subtle almost bored kind of smile. She was now leaning on the floor using her left hand to hold her up. She exhaled and inhaled rather dramatically even though she didn't need to breathe. Sachiko tapped her finger on her chin. "Hmm well...First off it's not what I need it's what I want." Naomi silently waited for an answer not looking amused. Sachiko eyes suddenly lit up, like a light bulb had went off in her head. "How about your paper. That seems fair doesn't it?" Sachiko finished off with a giggle.

Naomi should have known that was coming. Her heart jumped over a beat. "If I do that then I..."

"Then you'll be dead quicker than her." Sachiko said excitedly now looking genuinely happy. "Worth it?"

Naomi was torn now. Even although Sachiko persisted that there wasn't a way out, Naomi knew she was wrong. And she wanted them to get out together. Seiko would do it for her...wouldn't she? "Isn't there anything else you want? Sachiko I'll give you it." Saying her name out loud felt foreign, it reminded Naomi who exactly she was talking to.

Sachiko looked complacent and patronizing at the same time. Like she was thinking _really? not even for your best friend?_ "I don't think you have much else to give." She said slowly.

Naomi was now at a dead end. She scrambled through her frazzled brain trying to pull out another answer desperately. Naomi mentally shook her head at herself, nothing she could say would create a completely perfect outcome, but she had to at least try to salvage their remaining chances. "A bet." She mumbled.

Sachiko gave her an intrigued glance, one you'd expect from a very serious business woman, not a seven year old child. "A bet did you say?"

Naomi gave a disappointed, slightly exasperated look to Sachiko. "Yes a bet. One that If I win you give Seiko back her paper scrap and let me and everyone else keep mine. Then you let us mind our own business and find a way out."

Sachiko was skeptical and it showed, especially at that last part. "Then what do I get?" She whined.

Naomi felt eyes on her, her own eyes, like another version of herself was staring at her telling her to stop or to be more careful. "I'll give you, my scrap." She sounded scared but firm.

Sachiko paused for a second before falling down onto her back and laughing. "You're my new favourite." She said cheerfully. Then she sat back up when she realised something. "But what is the bet?"

Another thing Naomi had to think on. What was manageable but would also sit well with Sachiko? "If we can appease you we win If we can't I lose." She said trying to choose her words carefully.

Sachiko didn't look too happy at that. It took her a moment. She didn't want to be 'appeased' whatever that actually meant. The word was being thrown around but no-one had ever sat down and explained it to her. Though there was one instance she remembered, back in school when she was very young. Everyone gathered down to read a book together with the class. What was the line from the book? She had read it so many times. 'The man gave meat to the hungry lion to appease it' No that wasn't it. 'The lion was appeased with delicious meat' No wait it wasn't a lion it was a bear...maybe. Doesn't matter. That didn't make sense. But if people were trying to appease her would that make her the lion (or the bear). 'Yes I'm a lion' Sachiko thought satisfied. Then it occurred to her, if everyone was trying to appease her then why was no-one giving her any meat. This must be a different kind of appease. Sachiko didn't want that.

Naomi had been watching nervously. Sachiko had been frowning and shifting facial expressions as if something very serious was going on in her head. Then she snapped out of it.

"No." Sachiko said blankly. "I get to make up the rules now." She waited to see if Naomi had anything to say to that. She didn't. "You can appease someone. But not me. Someone like the girl with the star pin and the girl whose head I mushed up. And you have only a certain amount of time to do it."

Naomi looked deflated "Ok..." They'd have to find a way to appease Sachiko anyway and the girl with the star pin...? She had to mean Naho. Plus the girl with half a head was already on their list.

Sachiko clapped suddenly sounding like a child again. "I like bets! This will be fun!" Sachiko put out her hand. Naomi leaned over and shook it. The other version of herself sat there shaking her head.


	16. Guilt

Party 4

Yoshiki and Morishige were making their way to the exit. "And if it doesn't open?" Yoshiki was saying.

"I suppose we look for a key. And before you ask what we do if we can't find one...we'll go back to the classroom and hope that the others have came across more luck than us." said Morishige firmly.

"Tsk great plan." Yoshiki said sarcastically.

Morishige ignored his condescension. "How's your hand?"

Yoshiki looked at the blood soaked fabric and sighed. "It hurts I guess, just trying to ignore it best I can."

"When we get back you can wrap it up properly assuming the others found bandages." Morishige looked thoughtful for a moment. "What did you expect to happen?" He asked, it wasn't an accusatory tone.

Yoshiki looked confused. "What do you mean...?"

"When you were taunting Sachiko...what did you expect? Didn't you think she might just kill you on the spot?" Morishige asked keeping his neutral tone.

"Well yeah it was a long shot...I was...just trying to keep her from killing anyone else and yes I'll admit I wasn't really thinking of the consequences in the moment but..."

"But it worked out." Morishige said. At the time Morishige thought they were all trapped there, hopeless. But it only took one person to mess up her whole operation. Morishige thought that if he was the one to speak up he probably would have done things differently, but he wasn't the one to speak up and what Kishinuma did seemed to be the winning strategy. 'At least he was able to use his bluntness to his advantage for once.'

"I got lucky with the way things went." Yoshiki added as they closed in on the exit.

"Maybe your luck is still going..." Morishige said trying the door. It opened with little restraint. The sound of rain grew louder and cold air flew in. The door had a large key pushed in it from the other side. "Looks like someone was one step ahead of us."

"Good, makes our job easier." Yoshiki said stepping outside without hesitation. They found themselves on a covered walkway that connected the two wings. It was only a short walk to the next door.

 _*Thud*_

"What the...?" Yoshiki moved his eyes around trying to find the source of the noise. It happened again. Their heads turned. A man they didn't recognize was throwing himself off the building, again and again, in and endless loop. Each time his body hit the ground he would reappear on the roof, only to throw himself down again. "Who the hell is that!?"

Morishige went to the banister and looked over. "I'm not sure." He said sounding awe-struck. The man threw himself down again with a thud making them both flinch. "Kishinuma do you see that?" Morishige said pointing.

"See what the guy killing himself?! Yes now get away from there you weirdo!"

They both flinched as he fell again. "No look there's a key where his body is landing..." Morishige said.

Yoshiki shook his head but succumbed to his curiosity and joined Morishige at the banister. "Yeah I see it..." He said grimly.

They gave each other a look. "...Shit" Yoshiki said knowing what was coming next. Before Morishige even had a chance to suggest it Yoshiki climbed over the banister and lurked beside the spot where the man was going to land.

"Make sure you don't go until he's hit the ground." Morishige yelled down to him.

"I know I know." There was another thump, Yoshiki instinctively closed his eyes. The body disappeared as quick as it landed and Yoshiki was straight on the key, he grabbed it and moved away climbing back up before the body even hit the ground again. He held out the key. "This better be useful." He said sounding bitter.

They opened the next door ignoring the thud behind them. When they entered they were met with a stomach turning intensity. The whole aura of this building was different. It was heavier.

They both took a deep breath. "Let's not spend too long in here." Yoshiki said eyeing the unfamiliar surroundings.

It was like taking a trip back in time. Here they were back to searching and searching for things they didn't know they were looking for. They passed by bodies, two of which had familiar looking uniforms. Their deaths appeared brutal. "Let's not mention that." Yoshiki said referring to the state of the two Byakudan students.

Morishige didn't stare too much at the bodies. He was glad he hadn't let his morbid curiosity get the better of him. Mayu would have been extremely disapproving surely. The pictures were gone and that was good, he didn't need them. Not really. Sometimes he thought about it, about the deaths so perfect. But Ms Yui had told him he'd find Mayu and that reassurance was what he needed. That reassurance was better than any corpse.

Eventually they made their way to the top floor and the key they recovered finally showed its usefulness. It opened up the door to an office which they made their way inside. The room was colder than the rest of the school and the walls were plastered in various different seals and charms.

They heard a voice from nowhere. _I didn't mean for it to happen. It was just a temporary lapse in judgement. She's the one at fault. She clearly overreacted to the situation!_

Morishige and Yoshiki furrowed their brows hesitantly walking further into the room. "What do you suppose that's about?" Morishige asked.

"Don't think I want to know." Yoshiki walked over to the desk. In the drawer he noticed the small bloodied hemp bag. "This looks like one of the bags that Sachiko was holding in the auditorium..." Yoshiki shook his head knowing he had to look. It was as he expected, a dried up bloody tongue, but even though it came as no surprise he gasped and screamed in disgust.

Suddenly Yoshiki was ripped out of reality. He saw the man from the roof, he was in some sort of basement standing over a grave completely hysterical. He began to ramble about his dreams and his shame. He was talking to someone...he didn't want them to tell anyone else...he dug up the grave... _I'll kill you as many times as it takes!_ He shouted at the little girls dead body.

"Kishinuma!" Morishige was repeating.

Yoshiki snapped out of it. He dropped the bag to the ground. "Jesus..."

"What was that?" Morishige asked picking up the bag and looking inside, he was met with the same grisly sight. He closed it back up without so much as a wince.

"I saw something...I" Yoshiki started, going over the scene in his head. "That guy from the roof I think he killed Sachiko and...if that's right then this is her tongue!"

Morishige absorbed that. What was the story here? "Well if so then this might be exactly what we need. Those other ghost children may not be the only ones who are appeased by the return of their tongues. Actually it makes sense..."

"This makes sense?" Yoshiki asked looking worried.

"Yes, if Sachiko's tongue was taken from her, then that would give her incentive to take other people's tongues. Actually...if she was murdered then that would give her incentive to kill in the first place." Morishige sounded like a detective from an old crime show putting the final pieces together.

Yoshiki thought over that. "Yeah...perfect sense." He noticed the lone tape in the same drawer. Yoshiki picked it up and flashed it to Morishige who nodded as he pocketed it.

"There's a passage here Kishinuma?" Morishige said walking up to the passageway at the back of the room.

"Should we use it?" Yoshiki wondered out loud.

Morishige thought about it, he looked at the tongue bag. "I think we should go back first..."

"You sure, there could be something useful down there?" Yoshiki said.

"Perhaps but we shouldn't separate too long."

"Yeah I guess whatever." Yoshiki replied still eyeing the passage. Despite the curiosity they left the room and decided on coming back with everyone if they hadn't yet found a way out.

They made their way back to the entrance. "So we go back to the classroom now?" Yoshiki said looking back at Morishige.

Morishige knew that was a good idea, but this tongue wasn't what he came here for, Mayu was. This search had gone on too long. He shoved his hand in his pocket to make sure he still had the tongue bag and his hand brushed off something unfamiliar. "Huh?" He pulled out a note. Yoshiki kept walking not noticing he had stopped. Morishige's eyes widened as he read. _You're looking for a dead girl. Ask your friend if he's seen her._ The words were scribbled down messily, practically illegible it was clearly written by a child, the bottom of the paper was signed by Sachiko. Morishige felt sick. Yoshiki stopped and turned back, "What are you doing?" He asked taking a few steps back to Morishige.

Morishige stood still, his heart felt heavier, his breathing was shaky. He turned the note around for Yoshiki to see. He watched his eyes scan over it with a furrowed brow. Then he saw it...the look it Yoshiki's eyes. "What is that?" Yoshiki asked suddenly sounding uneasy.

"You tell me." Morishige said blankly. "What does it mean by 'looking for a dead girl'?" They stared at each other, neither of them said anything. There was a lump in Yoshiki's throat, he couldn't speak. But he knew...knew it was over, there was no lying to him now. "Is she talking about Mayu, Kishinuma? Is she talking about Mayu?" Morishige said sounding more unsteady.

"Morishige..." Yoshiki gave him a face full of guilt. "I was with her..."

Morishige went pale. Yoshiki continued, "That spiritualist...Naho she told us we could appease the children" Morishige started to shake his head in disbelief. "We tried...things went south, those fucking children they went rogue and I..."

"No stop." Morishige said but Yoshiki couldn't stop, it was all coming out now. "Jesus...I'm sorry."

"Stop stop stop stop stop." Morishige started repeating.

There was a second of silence. "...They killed her, they...I tried but they were too...strong and too." Yoshiki started to stutter. Morishige's face was cold.

"You're a liar." Morishige said.

"No I'm sorry-"

"So you knew ALL THIS TIME!?" It came out as a cry. His breathing was picking up. "What are you talking about?! Why are you saying this!?" He yelled out.

"I'm sorry Morishige I should've done things differently." Yoshiki said desperately.

Morishige dropped to his knees and threw up. "No you LIAR!" This couldn't be happening. It wasn't happening. There was some logical part of Morishige's brain telling himself that it was true, Mayu was dead but it probably wasn't Kishinuma's fault, but it was buried too deep. Everything that made him himself, the calmness, the clear mind, the level headed thinking was overshadowed by this loss and the pain it brought, of the future it showed him. Even if he made it out alive, without her he was nothing. And now she's gone, gone gone gone gone gone. It was so unfair, he was supposed to save her, to get her out of here alive. A switch in Morishige's brain went off, the grieving process was not kind on his fragile soul. He needed someone to blame and something to take his mind off the desperate sadness, maybe even something like anger. It was so sudden. The desperate greedy darkness of the school saw its opening and made its way back, sparing absolutely no time at all. It was the same mist Yoshiki had encountered, it started to consume Morishige.

"No Morishige! Don't let that happen you can still get out of here!" Yoshiki pleaded almost angrily.

Morishige was gasping for air. "Why why WHY! What am I supposed to do without her!?"

"We'll figure it out." Yoshiki said moving closer to him.

Morishige looked at him with disdain. "How...if it was Shinozaki...could you 'figure it out!"

Yoshiki didn't say anything.

"I won't leave here without her!" He said blankly, raising his eyebrows. Then Morishige began to scream as the mist tore into his body.

"No stop." Yoshiki ran over to him. He was only a few feet away when Morishige pulled out the cross knife and swung it at him. It barely missed. Morishige stood up, the black mist swirling around him. He swung again and again, Yoshiki jumped back each time. "I don't want to fight you Morishige I'm sorry she died I should have done more!" Yoshiki yelled.

Morishige caught his breath "You're right you should have! If you had been any less stupid than you are Kishinuma she WOULD STILL BE HERE YOU KILLED HER!" He swung the knife at him again no longer entirely himself. Everything hurt, darkness was in him and he couldn't push it out, not without the light...the light that was Mayu. She was everything he had, the only thing. The only beautiful precious thing and now she was gone. And gone so fast. "Tell me Kishinuma...Tell me how it happened! Tell me where she is now?! I have to see her!" He wanted to touch her, he wanted to feel her he wanted to take her with him.

Yoshiki shook his head fervently. His eyes glassed over. "I can't you don't want to hear that man come on just snap out of it!"

"TELL ME! YOU OWE ME!" Morishige screamed making weak attempts to hit Yoshiki.

"Fuck." Yoshiki said out loud. What choice was there now? He had lied too much. "The infirmary, she's outside of the infirmary..." He said tremorously.

"No. I was there I didn't see her..." He stopped himself as the realisation dawned on him. There was a look of concentrated dread on Kishinuma's face." Morishige screamed, louder this time, Yoshiki grimaced as he unconsciously took a step back.

The entrance door they were close by suddenly burst open, but not just open the whole thing broke. Yoshikazu ran in swinging his hammer at them. Yoshiki jumped in another direction and avoided him, but before he could catch his bearings Morishige was on him, he ran into him so hard the two of them rolled out the now shattered exit. Morishige was on top off him ready to fight. Yoshiki kicked him hard giving himself the upper hand, he got on top off Morishige and pinned his arms down. "Stop Morishige! It's the school It's making you! I felt it myself!"

Morishige didn't take in any of what Yoshiki had to say, he continued to struggle but right now he only possessed his body's own strength and stood no chance pushing Yoshiki off of him. Then there was Yoshikazu, making his way outside and swinging straight at Yoshiki's face forcing him to push back from Morishige. Yoshikazu went for Yoshiki again and missed instead hitting and breaking a chunk of banister.

Yoshiki looked at the wreckage and the monster horrified. Then it occurred to him...he was missing on purpose. "It's her, it's her games..." He muttered. Morishige ran at him. Yoshiki jumped up and dodged the next four punches that were thrown at him while simultaneously avoiding the hammer swinging in his direction. He figured Yoshikazu wasn't trying to land a killing blow, but there was no doubt in his mind that he wasn't going to go out of his way to avoid hitting him if he failed to dodge. Yoshiki had no choice but to punch Morishige sending him flying backwards. He ducked down away from another close hammer swing. "Morishige stop! This is what she wants!"

Morishige was gripping his head and screaming Mayu's name. He was lost. The hammer forced them to get closer together. Morishige threw himself up and grabbed at Yoshiki, there was a struggle and the two fell through the now weak banister down into the wet dirt below. Yoshikazu stopped swinging and watched.

Morishige and Yoshiki grabbed at each other as they rolled around without control. They kicked and punched and all while Yoshiki ignored the pain in his hand. Morishige was in full attack mode. He was gracelessly swinging his fists around and kicking his legs. Every time either of them stood up the slippery terrain would bring them both crumbling back down onto each other. The rain made it harder to see and hear and the lack of balance made it so the two of them were essentially just grabbing and pulling at each other. Morishige seemed to have forgotten about the knife and was instead in his rage filled state taking every opportunity to land a hit with either his fists or feet. Every time Morishige caught his bearings and tried to land a punch, Kishinuma was quick to swat it away and able to push him back each time. Morishige tried kicking and Kishinuma had to use his arms as his defense. Though the kicks were hasty and did no real damage. Yoshiki was trying his best not to really hurt Morishige, because quite frankly he knew he could and he knew he could win this fight. Then there was the part of him that thought he deserved this. The two boys grabbed at each other once again, they rolled around until Yoshiki pushed Morishige and started to back off. He pushed himself up onto the walkway. Before he knew it Yoshikazu had slammed a hammer into his back. He fell onto the wood hard, he tried to crawl away. Yoshiki knew fine well he hadn't went as hard as he could, that hammer could have broke his spine but it didn't. No It was on Sachiko's orders... she wanted Morishige to be the one to do it. That's why she left the note in the first place. "Damn you Bitch!" He choked out even though he could hardly breathe. He crawled forward again towards the second wings shattered door. There was footsteps clamoring towards him. Yoshiki knowing he wasn't getting anywhere in this state turned on his back and looked up at Morishige, his eyes now almost completely clouded over. That wasn't his classmate or friend anymore, he was another part of this school. Morishige held the knife in his hand...'that damn knife' Yoshiki thought.

Yoshiki coughed ferociously. "Ghh don't" He said straining his voice. Morishige leaned over him and pulled up the knife. It had came back to him, what happened with Mayu and the lies. It had fated both of them. Yoshiki was going to die and Morishige surely couldn't come back after killing him. Both of them were doomed.

They looked into each others eyes. It was hard to tell because of all the rainwater but Morishige was crying. He wanted her back... he heard her? "Mayu?" He said. There was a voice a faint voice he couldn't hear what she was saying but it was her. Morishige sobbed. "I'm sorry Mayu you were too good." He longed to be with her, he couldn't grieve her he wasn't built for it. "I'm coming for you" he whispered softly. The last of the black was entering Morishige's body, in a few seconds there would be none of him left and until he heard her voice he was ready to accept that. He looked back down to Yoshiki, who if anything just looked defeated. His friend looked defeated. Morishige pulled the knife up. He hesitated. Then the decision was made. Morishige drew the knife across his own throat before Kishinuma had a chance to stop him. Blood spewed out dyeing his hands red and pouring down over Yoshiki. "I'm coming" He choked out. Morishige fell down face first beside Yoshiki who despite being weak from the hit began desperately and futilely trying to stop the bleeding. Morishige was dead in a matter of minutes. Yoshikazu was nowhere to be seen. The mist seeped away realising its host was useless.

Yoshiki sat there in pain and loathing with Morishige's corpse. He looked up at the door to the first wing. "Damn you Sachiko DAMN YOU TO HELL"

* * *

A/N

Thanks for reviewing this so far!


	17. The Price Of Your Life

Bad idea, a very bad idea. Where would she even start? Naho, she had to find Naho, she had to find Tokiko's tongue but where? It was in the auditorium but they never found it did they? Naomi stopped walking. Sachiko had let her go to fulfill her side of the bet. Now she only had to appease two people and Seiko could escape with them. Easy enough right? She looked around, it was darker here. "N-Naho..." She called. "Ms Saenoki are you there?" There was no response and Naomi suddenly felt embarrassed. She thought about making her way back to the classroom but didn't even know where she was. Come to think of it how did she get out of that basement? She couldn't remember past making the bet itself. Didn't matter she supposed, she was here now didn't make any difference how she got here. Naomi shivered, she realised she had no next move. Okay one more time. "Naho" Before she even finished saying her name there she was, behind her. Naomi instantly felt the presence.

"What?" Naho said not so patiently.

"Well I-"

"I'm not a dog you can't just call my name and expect me to show up every time." Naho said with her usual blank stare.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to" said Naomi. "It's just I need your help."

"Of course you do." Said Naho with a hint superiority and obvious boredom.

Naomi went quiet, suddenly pissed off with Naho's attitude. Naho took notice of Naomi's irritation. "I'm sorry, do carry on."

Naomi took a deep breath. "I made a bet." Naho's interest peaked but it didn't show. "With Sachiko." She went on.

"And why would you have done that?" Naho asked almost smiling.

Naomi all of a sudden felt very small. She looked down to the ground but then forced herself to make eye contact with Naho's fish like wide eyes. "For my friend, Seiko, she doesn't have her paper scrap and Sachiko implied maybe that was needed to get out. Although then she corrected herself by saying there was definitely no way out but I don't believe that."

"I see." Naho definitely looked superior now. She wore a smug expression. Naomi twitched, she felt doubt at the back of her mind, was Naho was actually here to help? Was she someone she could trust?

"So is that true? Do we need our paper scraps to get out?" Naomi asked.

Naho was quick to answer. "There is no way out not without breaking down the closed spaces first which you haven't done yet." She said with slight edge.

"Because there's still one last ghost to appease right?" Said Naomi.

Naho creased up her nose and let her eyes wander off. "If it's that easy."

"What do you mean?"

Naho remained patient. "This school is strong...It might be that the final piece isn't the headless girl but Sachiko herself."

"Do you know what we would need to appease Sachiko?"

Naho didn't answer. "Why did you call me here?" She said looking back at Naomi.

"Because I wanted your help. You're the one who told us how to appease the children in the first place. And the bet...the bet I made it involves appeasement." Naomi said hesitantly not sure if she should tell Naho that she was part of the deal.

"Don't be vague" Naho said slyly. "What is this bet?"

Naomi straightened up. "I have to appease Tokiko, the ghost girl and...you."

Naho didn't move but she did smile, this time with teeth which made her look more sinister than she might have intended. "Who said I need to be appeased?"

Naomi was nervous now, "I figured that anyone's soul who was in this school needed to be put to rest." She said with as much conviction as she could muster. Naomi in her nervous state forgot to mention that it was actually Sachiko's idea and not her own.

Naho raised an eyebrow. "And what, you want my help to appease myself?" Naho actually laughed.

Naomi shifted her weight from one foot to the other, she gave a provoked stare and didn't say anything.

Naho's smile came down. "What happens if you lose the bet?" She asked almost sounding concerned.

"I don't know." Naomi muttered, then she spoke up. "I don't know, it was If I don't succeed then I lose and the details of what happens if I lose were never specified."

Naho looked awed. "Well that wasn't very smart of you."

There was a lump in Naomi's throat. That's right what does happen if she loses?

Maybe it was sympathy maybe it was ulterior motive but finally Naho said something that was more than just some unhelpful remark. "You'll need to find that tongue, find it fast and you surely know what to do from there. Then If you want to appease me." She snickered as she said it, it was nothing she'd ever actually considered before. "Then find my mentor."

"Your mentor?" Naomi asked.

"Yes, he's here somewhere and I've been searching for him for quite some time with no luck. So if there was a way to appease me I'd say that's where to start." Naho didn't have much faith in Naomi's bet, so no harm in giving her a clue.

Naomi wouldn't know where to start with this mentor of hers. If Naho couldn't find him after all this time then why would she be able to? She had so many more questions to ask.

Naho stopped her before she could say anything else. "Whose idea was it to appease me and the ghost kid? You or hers?"

"The appeasement was my idea, but it was Sachiko who said it should be you two."

Naho gave a more regretful smile and glance to the floor. "Oh dear." She muttered. "Why would Sachiko want that?" She wouldn't, that was the answer. It was clear that Sachiko also didn't have much faith in Naomi, Sachiko wasn't worried. She must know that the appeasement of Tokiko would mean the breaking down of the closed spaces which were already hanging by a thread. But still she wasn't worried, that was concerning. And what happened if Naomi did succeed? Was Sachiko really going to give Naomi what she had been promised.

"Naho, isn't there anything more you can do to help?" Naomi asked.

Naho folded her arms and gave a dazed look around the area. "I don't think anyone can do anything to help you now."

Naomi gave an irked look back down to the floor. Naho wasn't being particularly helpful. "Fine but-" She looked up and Naho was gone. Of course. Naomi turned on her heel and darted off, she wasn't wasting any more time. "Classroom, I have to get to the classroom. Satoshi will be there. Seiko will be there. Everyone will be there." Naomi stopped in frustration. "Where am I?" She moaned. This was not a part of the school she recognised. She started to run, she had to get back. This was the second wing, it had to be, otherwise she would have recognised it. She kept running, completely directionless. Then she heard rain. Naomi ran in the direction of the sound which led to a big heavy door, she made her way outside. There was a roof above her protecting her from the rain that she could see pouring down beside her. Naomi didn't have time to think about where she was, or have time to be fascinated and she stupidly decided there wasn't enough time to drink some of the rainwater despite how thirsty she was. There was a thud, she halted and turned. She watched in horror as a man threw himself off the building before re-appearing on the roof and doing it again. She kept her eyes glued to him as she stepped back, she lost her balance and fell down as the man threw himself off again. Naomi shook her head and stood up. No time to think about it. She ran to the entrance which had a large key already inside of it.  
Now she knew where she was.

Naomi picked up the pace and ran to the classroom faster than she thought she could. She burst through the door calling Satoshi's name. Silence. The room was empty. She supposed she hadn't set out that long ago it was possible that no one was back yet. After all time in here was complex, she couldn't tell how long it had been since they'd all left this room. "Dammit." Naomi ran to the board and picked up the old chalk. She hesitated before deciding what to write. She settled on _I am okay, need Tokiko's tongue, am heading to the auditorium - Naomi_. It wasn't much and it wasn't all that informative but if Satoshi saw it he'd know she was alive. And she didn't have time to think of anything better. Naomi left the room.

This time she knew where she was going, she made it to the auditorium in a matter of minutes, never once stopping to catch her breath. She was scared after what happened in there last time but wasn't ready to waste time over it. She burst through the door, but as soon as she was in her confidence was gone. This whole place with all its bad memories and bad atmosphere made her instantly nauseous. She took one slow step after another inside. No one was here. Naomi wanted to cry, she needed someone's help. She was scared and didn't know what to do next.

She decided to check the whole room, each creak made her jump and the images of the shadows entered her mind. The way they grabbed her, the way it felt so cold even though nothing was physically touching her, the painful forceful manner in which she was dragged across the hard floor.

It wasn't here, the tongue wasn't here. What if Sachiko had it all along? She had to think for a moment, where did everyone else go? Two to the infirmary, two to the Custodians closet and two more to the second wing. Maybe she should have stayed in the second wing and looked for Kishinuma and Morishige, she didn't even realise at the time that they might have been in there. Seiko and the class-rep, that was her best option. Naomi wasn't all that sure she remembered where the custodians closet was but that didn't stop her. She ran to it, lost her way at one point but made it in the end. She barged through. Empty. "No! How can you not be here!" Naomi collapsed on to the floor, the TV static flickered. She noticed something, this mat was warm in spots, someone might have just been here. She stood up all to quickly, something suddenly whirled past her causing her to scream and fall back into the cupboard door with a thud. Naomi looked at the tape on the ground and then back to the TV. "Did that just pop out like that?" She winced as she steadied herself, her back was momentarily sore from impact. Naomi turned back to the cupboard, she didn't know why but she opened it. Just in case. "Ahhh" She screamed almost falling over again. Naomi covered her nose, the stench hit her full force. Luck had struck, but she didn't feel very lucky. "This is Naho." Naho along with the corpse of a man she didn't recognize lay swollen and decayed resting on each other inside the cupboard. Naomi was tearing up either from sadness or the smell. She looked at the man she was with. "Could this be the mentor?" She wished she'd at least asked Naho more about her mentor when she got the chance. "Dammit I'm doing everything wrong..."

* * *

In the auditorium the shadows came back. Satoshi, Yuka and Nana were forced yet again to run for their lives. It was mayhem, they were scattered. Satoshi had hold of Yuka's hand tight but as soon as they made it out the door they tumbled down at the force of a shadow. Yuka caught her bearings and looked up to see four more shadows looming over her. She had no choice but to run. She screamed for her big brother but he was now being held firmly to the ground by at least three other shadows. Nana hadn't noticed them fall and had kept running.

Nana was getting away but a shadow was on her. She was sobbing as she ran, sometimes screaming at them to stop or leave her alone. Eventually she stopped screaming, she had to save her breath. It had been too long, she had been running too long, she was on her last legs. She made the last second decision to duck into a room and hide, only now realising that she had been alone all this time. Some part of her thought hiding was futile, they'd find her, but she couldn't run anymore. She covered her mouth to stop herself from breathing so loud. A while passed, maybe it was a while, maybe it wasn't that long at all. Either way Nana was sick of waiting. She left the room and walked quickly to where she thought there might be more people. The infirmary was empty. So she went to where the next party would be, the custodians closet. Nana realised how exhausted she was now. The adrenaline had kept her going but now that it was dying down it was stripping away her energy with it. Nana opened the door to the custodians closet, thankful she remembered where it was. Someone was in here. "Nakashima." She said. "You're okay."

Naomi who was staring intently into the closet turned around, startled at the sound of Nana's voice. Then she saw who it was and there was a moment of relief. "You're okay too." Nana walked over to her, Naomi without thinking closed the cupboard door, she didn't want her to see this.

"What happened to you?" Nana asked sounding scared.

Naomi noticed she was breathing rather heavily. Had something happened? "It's a long story." She said. "What matters right now is finding that girls tongue." Naomi's eyes scanned over Nana, her clothes were disheveled, her knees were scraped, she was shaking head to toe. "What happened?" She asked softly, scared of the answer. "Are you okay? Are the others okay?"

Nana looked sad. "More of them came, more of the shadows." She took a breath.

"It's okay take your time."

"They chased us. We were all together or at least I thought we were. I kept running, I didn't look back. I should have but I didn't. I don't know what happened to Mochida and Yuka. Surely they must have got away though." She paused."I hid for a while, in some classroom and went to the infirmary when I was sure they were gone, no one was there so I came here."

Naomi listened with concern in her eyes. They were attacked. But that didn't necessarily mean what Sachiko had said about Satoshi was true. He could be just fine.

Nana watched as Naomi stared off with wide thoughtful eyes. Then she realised something. "I found it." She said abruptly.

Naomi's eyes flickered back. "Hm found what?"

Nana held up the tongue bag and placed it gently in Naomi's hand. Naomi gasped with relief. "Thank you Ogasawara." Nana gave a faint smile. Now Naomi had what she needed to appease Tokiko but what about Naho. She looked back at the cupboard. If he was really her mentor then she had found him for her right? She'd done what she asked and found her mentor. She looked at Nana. "Let's go."

* * *

Seiko, Ayumi, Kai and Mitsuki had decided to go back to the classroom to see whether they were the only ones who had made any progress. One by one they piled into the room. Seiko stopped and everyone else followed her eyes to the board.

 _I am okay, need Tokiko's tongue, am heading to the auditorium - Naomi_

"Why would she have to say she's okay?" Seiko said with concern. "I thought they all went to the auditorium ages ago."

Yes, Ayumi thought. It was quite confusing.

"Should we go?" Seiko asked the group.

"You guys can go, I need a break." Kai said taking a seat and leaning back. Mitsuki wanted to sit down too, but didn't want to look like she wasn't helping.

"It's okay." Ayumi said noticing the look of exhaustion on Mitsuki's face, which was starting to bruise. "Shinohara and I can go check."

"Good with me." Kai said. Mitsuki nodded gratefully and took a seat. Ayumi and Seiko headed out of the classroom.

They made it to the auditorium, nothing on the outside looked out of the ordinary. Both of them hesitated at the door. Neither of them wanted to go back in there.

But they didn't have a choice.  
They pushed the door open and went inside. It was much darker than it was earlier. "Naomi." Seiko called.

"I don't think anyone's here." Ayumi said, she was worried. Where had they went if they hadn't came back to the classroom? They walked in further. They had a look around but there was nothing, only a pool of blood that looked like a black smudge in this light. Ayumi winced at the memory. How could Sachiko be so cruel?

"Let's just get out of here." Seiko said. She couldn't stand this place any longer.

Just as they left the room there was an earthquake. A very big earthquake. Much more powerful than any of the other's they had experienced so far. Both girls were thrown off balance. It was so powerful they screamed. It felt like the floor could cave in at any moment. No matter how many times you went through this it never became normal, or any less unsettling.

Finally it stopped. Ayumi stood up and pulled herself together. She looked thoughtful. An earthquake had only meant one thing so far.

"What is it?" Seiko asked.

"I think they found it. I think they found the tongue."

* * *

"What are we doing?" Nana asked watching Naomi stomp defiantly out of the room. "We're going to find the ghost girl and return her tongue. But we have to do it fast." She replied firmly.

"Oh okay...where is she?" Nana said quietly, she was slightly intimidated by Naomi's sudden assiduous manner. "I don't know" Naomi simply replied. They marched around the building, Nana was becoming more and more tired, she wanted to rest so bad.

After some furious and unrelenting searching Naomi stopped. "Finally." Nana heard her mutter. In the middle of the hallway was Tokiko, the infamous headless little girl. They had already searched this area twice but now here she was. Naomi held back her fear. The class-rep had been the one to do the actual delivering before but Naomi was there and she knew what she had to do. She turned her head to Nana, "You can wait here if you want." She turned and walked over to Tokiko's headless ghost. She put her hand in her pocket as she approached and pulled out the bag. Then right before Tokiko had the chance to attack Naomi held the bag up. "Tokiko Tsuji." She said and surprised herself when she didn't stutter. "This is yours, I'm giving it back to you." That's what the class-rep had said before, right? In only a quick seconds passing Tokiko mimicked the other ghosts, taking her tongue back and placing it in her mouth before thanking Naomi and vanishing. Naomi smiled with disbelief, she really just did that. Half-way there.

Although she had already been through this twice before, Naomi forgot about the earthquakes that occurred after each appeasement. This one was almighty. She turned to Nana just as she fell. It was so violent neither of the could keep from screaming, she covered her head with her arms, wrapping herself up in a fetal position. Then it stopped. Dust fell from the ceiling as the building settled. Naomi stood up and had to force down the bile that was rising in her throat. "Ogasawara. Are you okay?"

Nana was huddled over, she looked up at Naomi and despite her shaking gave a nod. Naomi clumsily made her way over and helped her up.

There was a giggle. Both of them turned to see Naho standing there with her usual sure of herself expression. "So you've did it. Does that mean It's my turn?"

Naomi wasn't sure what to say. It was her turn wasn't it. "Yes actually."

"Oh." Naho gave a fake surprised expression. "Did you find my mentor?" She asked shrewdly.

"I did." Naomi simply stated.

Naho looked suspicious. She waited for more.

"I was in the custodians closet. His body's in there...beside yours... in the cupboard." Naomi said with as much tact as she could.

Naho's face twisted. "His body?"

"Yes." Naomi said obliviously. "He's with you. He was all this time." Her voice was soft.

Naho did not look pleased, not exactly the expression Naomi had hoped for. Then Naho started to laugh. She looked up to the ceiling and laughed. She grabbed her hair and pulled and laughed. "Are you?! Will you-?!"

"Naho?" Naomi said.

"You better be joking you dumb bitch!" Naho screeched back, her voice had switched drastically from normal to some type of demonic growl.

This wasn't right.

Sachiko was at the other side of them all, laughing hysterically. "Is this what appeasement is?" She said snorting. Naho was definitely not at peace. She was thrashing and moaning clearly in pain. Physical and emotional.

Naomi stared blankly at Sachiko. "I-I gave the girl her tongue back, I've done what you asked." she was shaking.

Sachiko shrugged. "Look's more like you've only done half of it. And anyway times up."

Naomi shook her head. "No I-"

"Tell you what." Sachiko cut her off. "Since you've done half you get half the prize half the punishment. Your best friend can have her worthless paper back."

Naomi was speechless. She was confused, and worried. Half the punishment? If that's the prize then what's the punishment. Sachiko smiled. "I'll give you a head start." She cooed, staring Naomi straight in the eyes.

Sachiko started to count before Naomi could even register what was happening. "5". She looked at Naho who was now enshrouded in black smoke and then to Nana who was staring at her with fear. "4". 'What do I do?' "3" Naomi ran, the sound of a hysterical Sachiko echoed behind her.

Naomi turned a corner and stopped running. There was a man blocking her way. A normal looking man. A teenager actually. He was tall, with black hair and wearing a white blazer. She recognised the jacket that hung loosely over his shoulder. It was the same as Kai's. This boy was normal looking, but his hand. His right hand from the wrist to the fingers was composed of long red thick strings of flesh all knotted together. It looked as if his skin had just been ripped right off. The raw looking veins reflected a shimmer of light as if it was wet. Naomi couldn't look away. The boy smiled. He marched up to her, Naomi froze, he was only a few feet away when-

"Hey!" Seiko shouted. Ayumi came in behind her. The boy turned his head to her. Seiko looked at Naomi horrified. But Seiko wasn't looking at her Naomi realised, she turned around. Standing there only a step away was Sachiko and Yoshikazu.

Naomi still frozen turned to Seiko and Ayumi as Yoshikazu closed his hands around her throat. Sachiko shot her hands up in the air and screamed, bursts of dull colour formed and soon more shadows were swirling over her head, too many. The boy with the flesh hand took stance as a bodyguard, he had murder in his eyes.

"No!" Seiko screeched. The shadows were also ready to fend off any attackers. But still Seiko ran at them. And then she was stopped, someone had stopped her. It was Yoshiki who had shown up just as this mess was going down. "Stop Shinohara you'll die if you go over there." There was too many. "No stop I can help her!" Seiko screeched as she furiously kicked and pulled. Yoshiki tightened his grip round her body. He felt sick, useless, but he couldn't let them both die. And he knew, he wasn't just telling himself that, he knew. Yoshiki had finally managed to pull himself up away from Morishige's body when Sachiko had appeared. He didn't even have time to be angry at her before she started on her little speech. Sachiko had told him, told him how she was going to kill Naomi, that her time was up and if anyone got in her way they'd die too. Sachiko had handed Yoshiki a paper scrap, "You can give this to Nakashima's friend, I'd like to have a little more fun with her anyway." She had said, then she was gone and he had ran, ran back into the first wing calling frantically to anyone who would hear. And now he had stumbled upon this. Sachiko was being true to her word.

Ayumi walked beside them, she was pale and shaky and her eyes were bloodshot. "He's right". She said almost voicelessly.

"What!?" Seiko screamed.

Ayumi shook her head and stifled a cry. "He's right, I can feel it." She pointed over to the shadows. "I can feel them killing you."

Seiko looked at her with disbelief. What was she even talking about? Why was nobody helping? Had they all gone mad?!

They saw Nana coming up behind Sachiko. She saw what was happening to Naomi and before she could think about what she was doing she ran up to help. Ayumi was yelling at her to stop but she couldn't hear over the sound of the shadows. They were screeching and Sachiko was screaming and shouting, everything was so loud. As soon as Nana entered the same space as Sachiko she was dead, in the blink of an eye there was no body just blood which seemed to float for a moment before it splashed to the ground in a messy little puddle. Ayumi stood with her eyes pale, she didn't move an inch. Yoshiki grimaced and Seiko screamed louder and despite what she was seeing kept trying to run to Naomi. Yoshiki could not let that happen to her.

Yoshikazu held Naomi up higher by the throat and went from using one hand to two. He squeezed harder. Naomi kicked and struggled. Blood surged through her head, her body was shutting down and her mind was panicking. She grabbed at Yoshikazus face and stuck her fingers in one of his dead, red eyes. He roared in pain but did not relent. She kept hold of his eye until she had quite literally burst it, it was nothing more than an empty black space. Despite his new wound he kept his grip on her throat until there was a crack, a crack or a crunch Sachiko couldn't decide. It was a horrible sound. Seiko was screaming and crying and Sachiko was laughing. All she wanted was a show. It wasn't too unfair to ask for after all she had been through was it?

Sachiko let the hair land over her face. She locked eyes with Yoshiki and smiled, she could see his rage. It was burning inside of him, she felt the same for him. It was mutual hatred.

The shadows disappeared, Yoshikazu without having to be told plodded away, still holding Naomi by the neck, flesh hand followed behind. Sachiko faded.

Seiko couldn't bear to look. Her emotions switched from anger to sorrow. She turned her body round and pulled herself into Kishinuma and he held her tight as she cried. They were all on the floor now. Ayumi couldn't hold herself up any longer. She looked deathly sick. She was pale and sweaty and her hair was damp. She noticed Kishinuma from the neck down was covered in blood. Should she even ask?

Ayumi and Yoshiki shared a look. A look that didn't really say anything because neither of them could wrap their heads around their own thoughts never mind someone else's.


	18. Missing

Kai and Mitsuki sat for a long time. Started to wonder if something had happened. Kai thought they were never coming back.

But then they did. One by one they dragged their feet into the classroom, each ones face appearing more grim than the next. Yoshiki and Ayumi had tried comforting Seiko but she needed some time to think. She sat up near the front of the class on the floor, her back leaning on the desk. She hadn't moved in a while, just stayed like that, thinking and coping.

Ayumi without saying another word took a seat and Yoshiki pulled a chair over to sit beside her. Kai started to prod about what happened but Mitsuki had warned him that it wasn't the time, that they'd explain when they were ready.

Yoshiki looked at Ayumi who was pale and still. Clearly extremely shaken up. Yoshiki was angry more at himself now. 'I shouldn't have left her. Here I am supposed to be protecting her and I leave her as soon as I find her...god you idiot'. Yoshiki had sworn to himself as soon as he woke up here that he'd find Ayumi and keep her safe. When Sachiko dragged them into the auditorium his fear was for her more than himself. Everything he done was for her. And then he left her, let them get split up voluntarily. 'Idiot, stupid dumb idiot, Should have went with her, whether she liked it or not.' Would it have changed anything with Naomi? Would him going with Ayumi instead of Morishige set off a new chain of events that led to Naomi sitting here in this room with them? '...I don't know...'

"Shinozaki are you okay?" He asked tentatively.

Ayumi was sitting motionless staring off into nothing, her head occasionally bobbing back and forward. She licked her lips and turned her head to him. "Something happened Kishinuma." Her voice was small and quiet. "I saw something. Or at least I think I did but maybe it was just a feeling, but it was there and it was real, I'm not making it up".

"I know I believe you."

"you do?" She sniffed.

"Of course I believe you."

Ayumi looked down at her lap. "I think I believe in destiny, but I never thought the future was set in stone or anything like that. But I knew that not me or anyone else could save Nakashima. I mean _knew_. I've never felt anything like it, it was...awful just awful." She croaked. She couldn't explain it, she wasn't a psychic or anything like that. She couldn't be. But her family did come from an unusual bloodline right? I mean her own sister was a very highly regarded medium. Ayumi rubbed her temples, 'no stop thinking like that' she told herself. This school was playing tricks on her mind. But it was real...and if it wasn't then Naomi could be saved and Ayumi had just convinced herself that she couldn't. 'No don't think like that either. You felt it. It was real. Nobody could have done anything for her'. Ayumi had never been the closest with Naomi before all this, definitely not as close as her and Seiko. They were casual friends and honestly Ayumi had always been a little jealous. But the time they spent here...trapped just the two of them for so long. The two had become closer than ever. They were friends for real, forever tied by what they had been through. And now she was dead...just like that...just like they'd all be.

"Hey Shinozaki." Yoshiki's voice again snapped her out of it. "It'll be alright."

"How?"

The room went utterly silent. Yoshiki took his eyes off Ayumi and put them back down to the floor. Satoshi and Yuka were gone too, no one knew what happened to either of them. And neither Naomi or Nana were alive to tell them. And Morishige, Yoshiki hadn't had the time to explain that yet, although he wouldn't make the mistake of keeping somebody's death to himself ever again.

Seiko stood up, her whole body still trembling. Everyone's eyes went up. She walked to the board and rubbed off Naomi's message, her face stained with tears. Then she turned. "We have to do something."

Yoshiki inhaled heavily before standing up. He put his hand in his pocket and pulled out Sachiko's tongue bag along with the tape he had found and dumped it on the table in front of him.

Ayumi for the first time since they got back looked like she had some spark of life left in her. "Who's is this?" She asked, standing up and leaning over the bag.

"It's Sachiko's." Said Yoshiki. "Morishige and I found it in the second wing."

"Morishige?" Ayumi suddenly noticed there was another missing person. "Where...?"

Yoshiki sighed and rubbed his face. May as well start from the beginning. "I was with Suzumoto earlier, that ghost, Naho, she told us we could appease some of the children and it would help us get out of here. So that's what we tried doing. It went bad and... they killed her."

Ayumi and Seiko's faces went sour. It was more bad news. Why did it feel like they had expected this? "Morishige found out." Yoshiki went on, "Sachiko left him a note somehow telling him she was dead. I should have just told him myself but..." He stopped himself. "There's this darkness in the school. Like if something bad happens and you get too upset about it it starts to get inside you." Ayumi furrowed her brow, 'a darkness'? "It almost got me when Suzumoto died but I managed to fight it off. Barely. When Morishige found out about her it came for him too and... it was too much for him."

"You mean he's dead?" Seiko asked sadly.

"Yeah." Yoshiki answered.

"...They're both dead." Said Ayumi and she put her hand on the table to steady herself.

Another mournful break of silence.

Seiko walked up to the desk and picked up the tape. "This is what we needed. Another tape." She spoke like all the life had been sucked out of her, serious and firm not like the Seiko they usually knew. All Sachiko's doing Yoshiki thought with a burning hatred.

Kai and Mitsuki walked over to the same table. Mitsuki was holding Yoshie's diary in her arms. The bruising on her face was getting worse, it was starting to darken in colour. She noticed Yoshiki eyeing the book up curiously. Mostly he was trying not to stare at her face. "It's Sachiko's mothers diary." She explained to him. He gave a puzzled expression. 'Of course it was Sachiko's mothers diary. Cause that made sense.'

"Okay" Said Ayumi. "We need to lay out all our information and figure this out." Everyone nodded collectively and that's what they did.

The four who had read the diary explained to Yoshiki about the principal and how he killed Sachiko and why and how he killed himself after.

"He jumped off the roof?" Yoshiki asked. "I saw him, he was jumping off in some kind of sick loop." he explained. He also explained to them what he had saw when he touched the tongue, about the passageway in the office and about how the tongue belonged to Sachiko.

"This is all fucked." said Kai.

"Yeah we know." Said Yoshiki.

"You all gonna explain what happened while you were gone?" Kai asked sounding vexed.

"Kai." Mitsuki said in an agitated manner, trying to stop him from prying.

"No, it's okay. You should know." Said Seiko bleakly.

The three Kisaragi students glanced at each other waiting for someone to do the actual explaining. "Sachiko killed Nakashima and Ogasawara. We saw it happen." said Ayumi slowly and regretfully.

"Yeah and she made quite a show off it." Said Seiko wiping her eyes.

"Before it happened." Said Yoshiki. "Sachiko came to me, started going on about how Nakashima's 'time was up'. She gave me this." He pulled out a scrap of paper. "Told me to give it to Nakashima's friend. Suppose that's one of you two." He looked at Seiko and Ayumi.

Seiko looked at the paper with disbelief. "I lost mine..." They gave her confused stares. "My scrap of paper from the charm I lost mine a while ago...I..." She gently took the paper from Yoshiki and held it between her two fingers. "Why would she give us this?"

"Keep it." Ayumi said.

Seiko who was transfixed on the paper scrap snapped out of her trance. "What? Why?"

"I just think it's important." She stated.

"You think?"

"It's just a feeling." Ayumi said miserably.

"Another feeling?" Seiko said her voice cracking, sounding slightly accusatory.

Ayumi looked down sadly. Seiko despite her frustration still felt bad, she held onto the paper scrap tighter and put it in her student ID holder. "...Okay, I will."

"I think we should watch this tape." Mitsuki said picking it up and breaking the uncomfortableness. No one said anything. "I mean like just now."

Yoshiki sighed. "I'm in." He picked up the tongue. "This time we all go."

"What about Mochida and Yuka?" Said Ayumi. "They might come back here." Yoshiki's eyes instinctively flickered to the chalkboard.

Seiko turned and picked up the chalk. "Hope Sachiko doesn't see this." She muttered to herself. _To whom it may concern: we found another tape and will be at the Custodians Closet_. _Meet us there. If we are not there meet us here._

"To whom it may concern?" Yoshiki said trying not to sound like he was mocking it.

Seiko wiped her eyes again and almost smiled. "Yeah, problem with that?" She jested lightly.

Yoshiki snickered and shook his head. "Nope no course not."

They stayed close as they made their way to the Custodians Closet.

For Ayumi and Seiko it felt like the last time they were in this room was a million years ago, how could so many things change in just a short period of time? Seiko felt like she was a different person now than she was only what she assumed to be a few hours ago. The girl she loved had died how could she not be different? There were people in your life who make up a part of you whether you like it or not or whether you know it or not. It was inevitable that Seiko would be altered by this. It wasn't fair. And Satoshi, Seiko was sure he loved her too, he'd surely be just as devastated. If he was alive. And poor Mayu and Morishige and Ms Yui and the people she didn't know so well like Nana and that boy and girl Sachiko killed in the auditorium, god she felt so bad for not remembering their names.

Seiko sat down in front of the TV and watched Mitsuki insert the tape. For a moment the screen went black and Seiko could see her sad reflection. 'And poor me' She thought.

The tape started up.

It was pitch black, you couldn't see anything, but they heard a voice. It was the same man from earlier. All alone and scared out of his mind. Rambling about being alone, not wanting to die.

The man's voice spoke to them through the screen, _If anyone's watching the tape... ...there's a way out and I'm going to tell you what it is right now._ Well that certainly sounded promising.

The TV momentarily flickered back to static before the tape continued. _You need to perform the Sachiko ritual correctly._ 'Correctly?' Ayumi thought. _Say the line one time for each person, then one more for Sachiko, and put all your paper scraps together._

 _I wish I'd never done it. I wish I'd never come here._ The man moaned. They were all right there with him.

Things got bad after that. It became clear why it was so dark. The man was hiding somewhere, and someone was trying to get in.

 _Naho, Don't! NO!_

They heard Naho, she didn't sound human. She was screaming his name: Kibiki. And he was begging to live. The door opened and the camera caught light of the rooms features. It was clear this footage was taken in this very room. Naho had lost her mind, she killed him or at-least was about to when the tape was self-ejected from the VHS player and fired at the onlooking students.

"OW!" Mitsuki wailed as the tape hit her square in her bruised nose. "Why me!?"

"Are you okay?!" Yoshiki asked as Kai tried not to laugh.

Mitsuki rubbed her nose. "I'm fine." She said flatly, sounding nasally.

Seiko stood up. "The tape was filmed in this room."

Ayumi was oblivious to what was going on around her. They were all talking about something but she couldn't hear it. She had done the charm wrong...But how, she followed Naho's instructions exactly. Or what if she didn't, what if they had angered Sachiko because she gave everyone the wrong instructions? 'Oh god what have I done?' A sudden pungent smell hit her, she didn't really notice it for a few seconds but it became hard to ignore. She snapped out of her daze and stood up. The others had opened the cupboard door revealing two corpses lying against each other. "Naho and Kibiki." She said.

Yoshiki turned to her. "Yeah, looks like it." He said sorely.

Seiko having a sudden realisation pulled out her student ID holder where the scrap of paper could be seen through the clear plastic protector. "This is what we need to get out! Why would Sachiko give me this?" She sounded worried. "It's a trap it has to be."

Yoshiki thought about it silently. What was it Sachiko had said to him? 'I'd like to have a little more fun with her'. Why would she say that if this was a key to escape. He rubbed his face. God it made no sense.

"What if it's not?! We all have our charms right? Let's get out of here right now!" Kai demanded.

"No!" Ayumi butted in, "we're not leaving until we find the others."

"Your friend's aren't our problem! Me and Yamamoto can do it ourselves! Come on Yamamoto get your paper out!" Kai's hands charged into his pockets.

Mitsuki didn't exactly rush to his demand. She stood there awkwardly. Glancing back between Kai and the others.

Kai was now fidgeting with his ID holder. "Come on what are you waiting for!?"

Mitsuki swallowed. Her throat was so dry. If she done the charm with Kai she could be back home any second now. She could get a big glass of water and take big long gulps of it in her comfy bed. But she'd know that the others were still in here. She looked at Yoshiki. She felt she owed him, he saved her life. And she thought of her friends. Her poor dead friend's, they were her best friend's in the world. If it was them that were missing wouldn't she expect someone to help her? She couldn't just leave. But was it worth putting her life on the line for strangers?

"I said what are you waiting for." Said Kai agitatedly.

"I'm staying." Mitsuki stated simply.

Kai practically froze in place. "w-WHAT!?"

"I'M STAYING!"

Kai punched the cupboard door. "Why?!" He said sounding more desperate than angry. "Yamamoto we can go now!"

"I have to help." She turned to the Kisaragi students. "I want to help you."

They nodded and smiled gratefully, understanding that this was a big risk, especially for strangers.

"You don't owe them anything Yamamoto!" Kai pleaded, but she wasn't listening. Maybe it wasn't fair to keep Kai trapped here too. But she had to stay and he couldn't go by himself. "I'm sorry Shimada." She said soft but firm.

"This isn't happening!" Kai grabbed hold of Mitsuki and tried to stick his hands in her pockets in search of the paper.

"Stop! I've made up my mind!" She said pushing him away.

"Back off." said Yoshiki, swiping Kai's hands away from her. "No you back off!" Kai cried as he shoved Yoshiki. Yoshiki returned the shove and Kai stumbled backwards. Kai was about to push again when Ayumi stepped in between them. "Stop it! Both of you!" She screamed on the verge of tears. Kai and Yoshiki looked around guiltily. "This isn't the time." She said. "And fighting won't solve anything." Ayumi was very heavily against violence of any kind. She didn't need this right now. None of them did. They had to know who the enemy was. It couldn't be each other.

Kai leaned back heavily on the wall. "Ghh. I just want to go home okay?!" He sounded like her might cry, he looked at Mitsuki's guilty bruised up face. She couldn't keep eye contact and looked away. "I'm sorry" She mumbled.

"What about what happened to your friend? How'd you know that's not going to happen to us?" Kai snapped, sounding frustrated.

"It won't." Said Yoshiki.

"What if it does? You going to play hero again?" Said Kai with a mocking, sarcastic tone.

Yoshiki didn't say anything. He held eye contact with Kai until he looked away.

"We shouldn't waste any more time." Seiko said so quiet that if they weren't all right next to each other no one would have heard her.

"You're right." Said Ayumi. "Where do we start?"

"The auditorium?" Yoshiki suggested.

"We were already in there. It's empty." Ayumi told him.

Yoshiki dragged his hand through his hair with a sigh. "Suppose we just look around." He looked at Ayumi. "Yeah I suppose."

"Wait." Mitsuki interjected. "We didn't get this stuff for nothing." Mitsuki pulled out the bandages she had collected from the infirmary earlier. She looked at Yoshiki's hand, the fabric he had used to wrap it up was barely visible, stained a deep crimson. He took the bandages with his other hand. "Thanks."

Mitsuki went to Kai and held out her hand. He un-crossed his arms and grumpily handed her the alcohol he had found. Mitsuki went to hand it to Yoshiki but Seiko went for it instead. "Here I'll help." She said. "Gives me something to take my mind of everything."

Yoshiki and Seiko sat down by themselves. She silently poured the alcohol over his hand and he flinched. She had never done anything like this but she'd seen it done in plenty of movies so how hard could it be?

"Shinohara" Said Yoshiki as Seiko was picking up the bandages. She didn't say anything. "I'm sorry about, about what happened and that I-"

"It's okay." She said quietly. She looked at him and forced a small wry smile. Her eyes were filled with sadness. "I know what would have happened if I went over there. I never would have been able to save her." She said regretfully. "I just." She closed her eyes to hold back more tears, took a heavy breath and looked back up. "I just wish none of this happened at all." She finished wrapping the bandage. "But I don't blame you for what happened. And I'm not going to hold a grudge"

Yoshiki's expression wasn't too far off from Seiko's. He had so many things he could have said. 'Thank you; It'll be alright; You'll get through this; You're so strong.' But he didn't say anything. Seiko gave another short smile before standing up and walking away.

* * *

They were ready to set off. No one looked particularly cheerful.

The sight upon leaving the room sent them all into silence. Everything was different. Not massively different, it was still the same school, but it looked like everything had been rearranged.

"It's because of the earthquake. The closed spaces are breaking apart." Said Ayumi answering the question everyone was thinking.

"Then why is it just changing now?" Yoshiki asked.

"I don't know. Maybe it needed some time to adjust."

Ayumi kept walking, thing's might look different but that didn't change their goals. They had to get a move on. The others followed.

The atmosphere became pretty dry. Everyone walked along mostly in silence. Until Seiko stopped.

"Guys I uh-" Everyone stared at her. "Do you think we could go to the bathrooms?"

Kai sighed. "What for." He said with an attitude.

Seiko crossed her arms and gave him a sly expression. "What do you think? I haven't peed since we got here."

He looked slightly uncomfortable at that answer "Right, yeah whatever." He muttered.

It was settled, they were going to the bathrooms. It shouldn't have been hard to find. They had been trapped here long enough to know their way around. Except like they had just discovered, everything had changed. In the end they wasted more time getting there than any of them would have liked to admit. But they made it and now everyone could use the break.

All the girl's went into the bathroom.

Seiko walked past the stalls and picked the fourth one at random. It opened easily and she shut herself inside. It was a little creepy but the others were in here with her so what did it matter.

She pulled down her pants and sat down. She wanted to cry but didn't think she could do it quietly enough. She put her head in her hand's and breathed in and out. It had been a long day. 'My poor brother's probably think something's happened to me.' But something had happened to her. Seiko had never felt worse in her life. There was really no hope. But she didn't want to die. She had a family to take care off. She couldn't just disappear and put her siblings through that kind of loss again. Not after her mother.

Seiko finished peeing. She realised something. The bathroom was awfully quiet. "...Shinozaki?" ... "Yamamoto?...You guys there?"

Her breathing picked up. 'Come on guy's don't do this to me.' She pulled up her pants, stood up and pushed on the door. It didn't budge so she pulled on it. It wouldn't move in either direction. Was this a joke, maybe one of them was leaning on the other side. 'No they wouldn't play a prank at a time like this'. "Hello?" She banged on the door. "Shinozaki?!" She pulled and pushed at it violently. "Open the door!"

Seiko threw her body at the door and it swung open so fast and unexpectedly that she fell out onto the bathroom floor. Everything looked normal, but it was empty. She picked herself up and turned back to the stall. And screamed.

Seiko covered her mouth. There in the stall where she had just been standing was Naomi. Just watching her. "Naomi-" She ran up to her and the stall door slammed shut by itself with a bang. "Ah" She jumped back. "N-Naomi." She pulled on the door, now trying to get in rather than out. "Naomi it's me I'm right here. I'm so sorry I tried." She started to cry. "I tried Naomi! Please open up." Seiko gave up pulling and stood there banging on the door and sobbing. "I'm sorry."

* * *

Ayumi stepped out off the first stall and went over to the sink's where Mitsuki was inspecting her face in one of the broken mirrors. "It's bad isn't it?" Mitsuki asked without turning around.

Ayumi tried not to stare. It looked very painful. "It's not the worse I've seen." She said before realising that wasn't as reassuring as she would have liked it to be. "I mean. It's hardly noticeable." No that was a lie. "No I mean, well-" Mitsuki smiled at her. "Ha sorry what I'm trying to say is it's not as bad as you think."

Mitsuki smiled. "Thanks." Then she looked worried again. "You don't think It will like stain do you?"

Ayumi's forehead creased up. "Stain? I don't think that's a thing."

"Well you know what I mean like leave a mark." Mitsuki winced as she touched it. In her mind the bruise seemed to be spreading.

"No it's just a bruise It'll surely heal." Ayumi reassured her. "But it will heal faster if you don't poke at it" Mitsuki stopped poking the bruise and took her hand back down. "Uh yeah you're probably right."

Ayumi turned the tap. It made a harsh creaking sound but no water came out. Not like she expected it to. She stared at herself in the mirror. She brushed down her twin-tails and stood up straight. Then she backed away a step and called out to Seiko. "Shinohara you still in there?" There was no answer. "Yamamoto did she leave already?" Mitsuki was already back to poking at her face. "Huh?" She said distractedly. "No I didn't see her leave. Must still be in there."

Ayumi had a bad feeling again. And she was quickly learning to trust those bad feelings. She paced up to the stall she saw Seiko go in and tapped it lightly. "Shinohara are you-" The door wasn't shut properly and slowly creaked open when Ayumi tapped it. It was empty.

* * *

"Is it just me or are they taking forever?" Kai asked irritatedly." He was leaned up against the wall.

Yoshiki didn't say anything. He stood in the hall with his hands on his hips staring at the door. He was starting to get worried. "Maybe we should go inside and see if they're okay or knock at the door or something." He said without looking at Kai.

"Ha. Any excuse to go into the girl's bathroom." Kai jeered.

Yoshiki ignored him and went up to the door. "Hey!" He shouted and banged his fist on the door. "You okay in there?" He listened carefully for an answer but there was nothing. He didn't want to have to go in there. It felt wrong just thinking about it. Maybe that shouldn't be what he was worrying about in a place like. "Dammit." He opened the door and peeked inside. When he saw and heard no one he walked all the way in. "Hey! You okay? Why didn't you answer me?" Then he noticed all the stall doors were open. He slowly took a step past each one. They were all empty. "No what the hell!" A sudden painful jolt of panic was sent through his body. "Shinozaki?!"He called. "Where are you...?" Yoshiki ran back out of the bathroom. "Hey Shimada-" But Kai was gone.

* * *

Kai watched Yoshiki awkwardly pop his head into the bathroom before biting the bullet and going inside. He took out his phone and went into his pictures. Mostly pictures of himself. It was comforting to remind himself of his real life. Something to look forward to.

"Shimada!" A voice yelled. He jumped from the wall and almost dropped his phone. "Who's there?!" It came from down the stairs. It called again, "Shimada help!" It was a girl's voice. At first he thought it might be Mitsuki but that wasn't possible she was in the bathroom. What if it was Tohko? It kinda sounded like her.

Without putting any further thought into it Kai ran down the stairs in pursuit of the voice.

* * *

Kai called out to the empty halls. "Hey where are you?" He shouted.

"Right here." He heard a voice from behind him say. Kai hesitated. That wasn't the same voice. That wasn't even a girl's voice. He twitched as he remembered. He knew that voice. With anger in his eyes he turned.

Kizami was standing there with a subtle grin on his face. Kai's eyes went straight to his hand. It was hideous, like something out of a horror movie. He looked like he'd been skinned.

"Jesus Kizami! What happened to you!?" Kai shouted, not so much sounding concerned, but appalled.

Kizami's face twitched. "I was reborn!" He shouted. Then he laughed and held up his creepy flesh hand, "Well at least part of me was." He said with a chuckle.

Kai in a second pulled out his knife and held it out in front of himself. "Don't get any closer you fucking freak!"

This seemed to be the reaction Kizami was hoping for. His grin spread and he got closer. Kai swiped the knife at him and Kizami grabbed it with his new hand. He easily squeezed and flattened the blade of the knife, rendering it useless.

Kai swore. He looked into Kizami's menacing grey eyes. This was not going to end well. Kai turned on his heels and ran but not before spitting at Kizami's feet. He ran without turning back to see if he was being followed. He sped up and charged through a door banging straight into something.

"Ow the fuck?!" Yoshiki moaned. Then he saw it was Kai. "What happened to you?"

"Doesn't fucking matter. There's a maniac with a goddamn meat hand chasing me!" Kai shouted, pushing past Yoshiki but prompting him to run with him. 'Meat hand?' Yoshiki thought. And then he remembered, the guy who was there when Nakashima died. Just as he thought it the man in question turned the corner sauntering up to him with a spring in his step. "Shit." Yoshiki grimaced as he backed up and slammed the door. He turned and followed after Kai.

"Wait up!" He fell in beside him. "Where are the girl's?"

"No clue! They'll be fine they know what they're doing." Kai said between breaths. They ran up a set of stairs which left them more exhausted. Yoshiki stopped and pulled Kai back to stop him as well "We can't keep running forever. We have to do something."

"Nothing we can do! He broke my damn knife with that freak hand of his!" Kai protested. The conversation was interrupted by a high pitched scream travelling through the halls. It sounded from the direction they came from.

"No." Yoshiki started running back.

"Shinozaki!" He shouted. There was no sign of her or flesh hand. He heard a door slam shut and turned quickly. "Shinozaki?" He walked closer to it. "Shinohara?" He sped up and made it to the door. He hesitated. Now or never. Yoshiki opened the door and went into the room. He felt some kind of force from behind, like extremely strong wind that pushed him in further. The door closed behind him and he turned to it. "Crap." It was dark in here. Like really dark. Yoshiki couldn't see anything. He found his way back to the door and pulled. It didn't open. He turned back to face the room. All he could see was black. He was about to call for Shinozaki again when there was a bang. Something large fell near his feet making him jump, further into the room. He stepped on something and almost slipped. He waited for his eyes to adjust but wasn't having much luck. Still the room was nothing but darkness and tense quiet. If there was any sort of windows or glass in here they were completely blacked out. He walked forward again, something was there and he knew it but before he had anytime to do anything about it he was hit in the stomach with something. It wasn't too painful but it startled him enough to make him randomly swing back with his fist. He hit something and took this as his chance to pull out his knife. The cross-knife he hated so much, right now it was all he had.

Pitch black. His eyes weren't going to adjust any further. Yoshiki had no idea what he was fighting. There was a frightening bang from right in front of him and in a panic Yoshiki swung his knife forward. He heard a 'whish' sound as something moved back. Then whatever it was had clearly been startled as he heard it get closer. Before he could do anything he was awkwardly grabbed and pushed back, but not by anything that possessed supernatural strength. Yoshiki kept his balance and pushed it away. There was grunts from both ends as the two fought and pushed in the darkness. Something was to his right, a shelf of some sort that he could feel pushing into his side. Yoshiki pushed back and pulled it down in front of him, either separating him from or crushing his attacker.

"Dammit." He mumbled as he turned to get away. He couldn't see a thing. Clumsily he put one foot in front of the other and outstretched his hands. There , he felt something. With a gasp he let go, someone was on this side of him as well. Before he had time to react he was thrown back the way he came, landing painfully on his side. He dropped his knife. This one definitely possessed more than normal strength. There was another creak from this side of him, probably the thing he was originally trying to get away from. He stood up in a panic and turned to run, banging right into something and stumbling back. He fell and pulled someone else down with him. Both of them hit the ground and there was another scuffle between them. Footsteps could be heard from the side Yoshiki had just been thrown from. He could hear panicked breathing and grunting noises from whatever he was fighting. It registered to Yoshiki that this was another human. He shoved them off himself and stood back up. Stumbling forward through the darkness away from the sound of footsteps. Moments later there was the loud sounds of a struggle going on behind him. Yoshiki blindly felt his was around, looking for a switch or an exit or anything useful. 'God I could really use one of Shinozaki's candles right now.' For a moment Yoshiki wished he had never quit smoking, then at least he'd have a lighter on him. And they say smoking kills.

More clatters from behind him. Yoshiki sped up. "Come on, come on give me something." He mumbled quietly. The noises started to get closer. 'Crap.' He grabbed hold of something, it was cold and heavy. He turned and swung it just as something approached him. He felt it make contact with something solid and whatever it was let out a noise of pain. Then it retaliated, Yoshiki was met with a numbing sensation on his arm. The attacker had its own weapon of some sort, and although it was heavy and definitely stung it clearly wasn't as powerful as whatever Yoshiki was holding. In a moment the blind fighting started. Yoshiki and the attacker were swinging aimlessly at each other through the darkness, only occasionally landing weak hits as both of them dodged back and forward. More footsteps and whoever he was fighting charged into him and they both fell over again, this time knocking over and pulling down many heavy objects with them. The attacker backed off and Yoshiki could tell they were searching for their weapon. Footsteps again and a small subtle deep menacing laugh. Yoshiki felt around beside him and found his own weapon. He wrapped his fingers around it just as a painful pressure was applied to the back of his hand, the same hand than had been impaled. He yelled out and pulled it back. Something had stepped on it. He heard his weapon being kicked away.

Yoshiki couldn't see it but he felt the presence lingering over him. He heard the sound of clothes rubbing together as it bent down and grabbed his shirt. It got ready to pull him to his feet when it suddenly released with a grunt. The other attacker had hit him and both were now fighting each other, it did not sound like it was going well. Yoshiki turned and crawled away frantically patting the ground for his weapon. His hand made contact with something sticky causing him to pull back and fall to his side in momentary panic. 'Idiot' He thought. Then as he was pulling himself back up he felt what he was looking for. He grabbed it with his wounded hand and heard it make a scraping sound as he dragged it over to himself. He grimaced as he felt the blood from his hand soaking through the bandage. The fight going on behind him moved closer. Yoshiki stood up and turned as it made its way over to him. "Get it!" He heard one of them yell, it was a boy, he sounded like he was pleading, he might have been hurt or just scared. There was a thud as something made contact with someone. Yoshiki strained his eyes just enough to see an outline of a large figure either falling towards him or coming at him. Yoshiki pulled back his weapon like a bat above his shoulder and swung. A deep roar came from whoever he had hit. Then he heard as the other person swung his weapon at it and soon both of them were pounding on the same thing. 'What was that saying?' Kishinuma thought. 'The enemy of my enemy is my friend.' This was probably the same guy he had been fighting with a minute ago and now they were both fending off the same attacker. Yoshiki quite frankly had no idea what was going on. He needed some light in here.

After many hits whatever it was backed off with a sort of hiss sound. Like a human pretending to be a snake. Yoshiki might laugh if his situation wasn't so dire. He looked around. Was it getting less dark in here? He could see another shape, the shape of the first attacker. They might have been looking at each other. There was heavy breathing from both ends. Yoshiki readied his weapon just in case. He thought the other boy might be doing the same.

There was a noise, something between a switch going off and a penny being dropped. The light's came on, they didn't flicker on, they just turned on. One second the room was complete darkness then next there was a blinding light. Yoshiki closed his eyes and covered them with his arm. The adjustment was slightly painful. Slowly he pulled his arm away and blinked several times. And after momentary straining he could see. He could see where he was, what he was holding, the state of the room, the state of himself and who he was with. The two of them stood there stupefied. Staring at each other with a look of bewilderment. 'You've gotta be kidding me' He thought to himself bitterly. This whole time.

"Yoshiki?" Said Satoshi looking just as disorientated as him.

"You idiot." Yoshiki complained, turning his weapon in his hand, which turned out to be a crowbar.

"Me?" Satoshi asked with an even more confused expression on his face. "What did I do?"

"You -" Yoshiki started, but he didn't know. He let out a short laugh.

Satoshi smiled a little too. "What's so funny?"

Yoshiki sighed dramatically. "Nothing." He said. "You with Yuka?"

"You mean she's not with you?" He said worriedly. "Oh no I haven't seen her since the auditorium."

Yoshiki scrunched up his face. "Shit." Satoshi's expression became deeply troubled. Yoshiki looked around. Library, the were in a goddamn library. Almost all the shelves had been knocked over, books were scattered everywhere. He now noticed that's what Satoshi was holding, a big heavy book.

Whatever had been attacking them both was gone. Yoshiki looked at his hand. The sticky substance he had touched was blood, pretty much what he expected. His other hand was covered in his own blood.

"So what happened to you? Where have you been?" Yoshiki asked.

Satoshi gave a deadpan stare. "Long story."


	19. Uncertainty

Satoshi couldn't move.

His vision was turning black. It was those things. They were surrounding him. He could hear Yuka screaming for him. Her voice growing smaller each passing second. Satoshi kicked at the shadows. God this was not how he wanted it to end.

"Yuka!" He screamed as he gave one big push and pull. The shadow loosened its grip enough for him to push away from the other two. He rolled on his stomach and for a second lay there in shock. He wasn't expecting to actually escape them.

Satoshi pushed himself up off the floor and started to run. He didn't bother checking behind him. "Yuka!" He was shouting. 'Where did she go dammit?'

There. A hole in the wall. More like a square. It wasn't there before, he was sure. Satoshi ran to. It was stairs, stairs leading down into dark depths below. What if she went in here? She must have, it couldn't be coincidence this showing up now. He went down, taking it 3 steps at a time until it became too dark to be risky with his footing.

"Yuka!"

Then he tripped and found himself spitting away the big dust cloud that had formed on impact. It wasn't as dark down here. There was a few sad lights hanging from the ceiling and stuck to the sides of the walls. Satoshi slowly pushed himself up onto his knees, keenly gathering his surroundings. It wasn't much, it looked like a shabby underground cave, but not a naturally formed cave more of a man made one. Thus the lights.

He turned around. All that was behind him was a wall. The space where the stairs should have been was gone, like it never even existed. Satoshi realised he was shaking.

He stood up. First Naomi and now Yuka, why couldn't he seem to hold on to anyone?

Satoshi had no choice now but to walk through. Maybe Yuka did come down here after-all and they'd meet up any second now. Or maybe he had just trapped himself. Time would tell.

Not far from the point he had started Satoshi found a notebook. A very cutesy pink one with various stickers and hearts patterned on the front. He flipped it in his hands and saw it belonged to 'Naho Saenoki'. Satoshi knew that name, they had talked about her earlier in the classroom. She was the paranormalist. "Suppose I better hold onto this." He had no time to read it now, he had someone to find.

He was walking aimlessly when he heard the first thud, he stopped dead. The sound was more familiar than it should have been. The sound of big clunky footsteps dragging themselves along the dirt. Satoshi peeked around the corner. There he was again. Yoshikazu or - the monster with the hammer- seemed to be everywhere at once. He was always just there. He turned his head round and Satoshi quickly ducked back behind the wall. He held his breath until there was a shuffling noise and the sound of the footsteps fading.

He risked another peek. Yoshikazu was dragging a body away by the legs. Satoshi had to cover his mouth to stop himself from screaming. Now would be the time to turn and run the other way but, something was bothering him. He peeked again. No, he hadn't being imagining it, the person being dragged away wasn't dead yet. But not far off.

Satoshi didn't have much time to think. They'd be gone in a minute. It was go after them now or get out of here as fast as he could. He had to get back to Yuka no matter what, she wouldn't make it on her own, he couldn't let himself get killed. But he couldn't leave that person behind either.

Satoshi came out from around the corner and paced after them, keeping his footsteps light and remaining a fair distance away. He watched the body being dragged round another corner and quickly followed after, hearing a door slam shut as he made his way round. There was two doors. One to his right and another one a little bit further on to the left. Yoshikazu would have had time to go into either one which means Satoshi was going to have to check both.

The one on the right first. It was closer. Satoshi had doubts, this was not the first time he was realising that he didn't have a plan. He pushed on the door and winced as it creaked. He held his breath and looked through the space. His eyes widened. There was bodies. A lot of them, some on the floor, some hanging from the ceiling either from rope or hooks. Most were decayed beyond recognition but others were fresher. The stench hit him harder than anything. Satoshi couldn't stop himself from letting out a yelp as he slammed the door shut.

A bang came from the door to the left. It started to open. He had made too much noise. In the split second time frame he had Satoshi made the only decision left for him other than to stand there and let himself get caught. He opened the door to the body room again and threw himself inside, turning and quietly clicking the door shut in a record time. He held his breath again, it was worse in here, trapped with the bodies, trapped with the smell. He leaned up against the door and put his ear to it. Not daring to look back. And there was the footsteps again. Moving towards him almost rhythmically, but agonisingly slow. They stopped, Satoshi covered his mouth. He was right there.

The door pushed open and Satoshi moved with it, keeping behind it until he was backed up against the wall, hidden behind the door. It was right there. It didn't breathe so the only sound were its feet shuffling on the ground and the occasional grunting noise. The monster with the hammer scanned the room from left to right, its eyes falling over the various corpses, some of which he'd just collected. There was no movement. Satoshi stood behind the door violently shaking but remaining silent. He clasped his hands together and squeezed.

The door closed and Satoshi had eyes on him from everywhere. The dead vacant eyes of corpses hanging off and pinned to the walls, all seemed to be pointed in his direction. He felt the urge to apologise but didn't know why. He decided he couldn't stay in here a moment longer. Whatever was waiting for him out there couldn't be worse than this.

The hall was empty again and the door to the left was closed. Satoshi was still determined to do what he came over here to do. To help that stranger. He went up to the door on the left and opened it, it swung all the way open without him having to put any pressure on it. The monster wasn't there but the body was. It lay still in the middle of a blood soaked table. He was too late.

Something was bothering him again. Something close by. Satoshi with widened eyes threw himself around where Yoshikazu was standing, hammer in hand looking down at him. He couldn't believe it, how would he be able to sneak up on him? Something that big and that loud!

The hammer swung at him. Satoshi simultaneously charged through, managing to neatly make his way under Yoshikazu's raised arm. He darted off, the sound of an angry monster followed him. These halls were empty, there was no place to hide.

In the next hallway he saw boxes. A bunch of wooden ones all scratched up, some with blood oozing out of holes in the sides. A lot of them had been knocked to the ground and were obstructing his way. He jumped and swerved around them, the sounds of carnage behind him. Yoshikazu was barreling down the hall smashing through the boxes in his way.

Satoshi swore. He was right there behind him wasn't he? And there was nowhere to go, unless he wanted to be running down hallways for the rest of his life. He came to the end of a hallway with two separate paths leading left and right. On instinct he chose right and made it to what looked like a dead end. He stopped and let out a frustrated wail. He had been able to run faster than his pursuer but could still hear him gaining closer. He was going to have to run back. Unless...over there, a space in the wall, the perfect size to fit in.

It was a dark sort of crawl space surrounded by broken wood, as if it had been boarded up and someone had promptly pulled it apart. Anything could have been in there. It could be a dead end for all Satoshi knew. But it was either through here or back the way he came. Straight into the arms of a monster. So Satoshi went in. He blindly felt his way through, keeping his hands on the walls at his sides.

It got wider as he went, until it was a full on tunnel. And there at the end: a ladder. There was one lone, dim night-light styled light stuck to the wall at one side barely illuminating the space. Satoshi shook the ladder before he got on. It was wobbly and rusted but he was sure it would hold if he climbed fast.

At the top of the ladder was a hard- to- see wooden trap door of some kind. Satoshi hastily held onto the ladder with one hand and pushed the door up with the other. He heard the ladder creak and he pulled himself up into another pitch black space. When he was up, he felt around and closed the door back up so he wouldn't accidentally fall through it.

Wherever Satoshi was, it was extremely dark. Even darker than the crawl space. He stood up and each step felt like a gamble. He had never been so blind before, the tension was excruciating. He kept walking through. His hands which were outstretched in front of him occasionally hit or brushed off something each time giving him a fright. If Satoshi wasn't jumpy before, complete darkness definitely wasn't helping.

Then there was a noise. A noise that would have made so much sense if he could see. It was a familiar sound but without vision everything you're used to becomes so much more confusing, and more dangerous. It was like a bang, but not like something fell more like something flew open. A door? He thought.

Satoshi panicked. Something was there. He felt to his side, there was a big heavy object which he traced his hand along in search of something familiar. And then he found it, something familiar. Sizing it up in his hands it didn't take him much time to conclude that this was a book. A useless old book.

Satoshi heard more noise coming from somewhere in front of him. He stumbled to the side a bit and as he went to steady himself on something he felt it move forward and fall with a bang. He had tried to lean on something too precarious to hold his weight. He wanted to screech with fear as he heard something move closer, it was right in front of him. In blind panic Satoshi swung his book forward and felt it make contact with something. Then it hit him back, right in the arm. He winced and tried to grab on to something at his left side to stop himself from falling. But he grabbed it to quickly and heard more things hit the floor. He realised he must have unintentionally pulled more books down.

Satoshi heard the sounds of something whirling towards him and barely moved back in time to avoid it. That was it, he wasn't about to let whatever this was have him. He jumped forward and grabbed it. Both pushed each other away but found them self latching back on and struggling through the darkness. He felt it push back and so he did the same and with a mighty crash he could feel the vibrations off something landing at his feet. There was more strange sounds, he heard something else land near him, but not another solid object. No this had to be a person. He slowly walked back, not wanting to cause any more attention to himself. And then there was an awkward creaking sound as his foot landed on an unstable floorboard. This sound seemed to set everything off. Hurried footsteps and another body collided with him, pulling them both down to the ground. Satoshi was terrified, he hit and pushed again and whoever it was backed off.

For a moment Satoshi was in the clear. He heard whoever he was fighting retreat away and so stood up warily to catch his breath. But it wasn't over yet. Something else had him now, something much stronger and more vicious. Against all odds Satoshi still had his big book in hand. He used it to try and protect himself against his new unseen enemy. The two of them fought almost relentlessly, Satoshi taking a step back with each swing trying to separate them. It may have been pitch black but he knew he had to get away so he turned and stumbled forward through the room.

His shoulder hurt, he yelled out in pain. The hit had been completely unexpected. Still gripping the book Satoshi swung in front of him and felt himself hit something. Then they were both swinging at each other, aimlessly and in the end futilely. It got worse, the much stronger thing he had been fighting pushed him painfully from behind and he went flying forward into enemy number 1. -He was going to have to number them if he was going to keep track of what was happening.- He just hoped there wasn't more that he couldn't see.

'Note to self: Enemy number 2 contains super strength, but enemy number 1 has a weapon and it stings like hell.'

Enemy number 1 and Satoshi went down. He weakly tried grabbing at something to stop himself from falling but was sure he had ended up dragging down more object with him. And great, he had dropped his book. He patted at and stroked the ground to find it. A deep menacing laugh sounded from above him, then a cry of pain from in front of him and finally the sounds of something metal scraping across the ground away from them.

There! His book, he'd found it. Satoshi stood up. Someone was right in front of him. Enemy number 1 or 2? Ignoring the pain in his shoulder he brought the book down on the figure and heard it grunt. He instantly regretted attacking because whoever it was was now extremely pissed off and it's retaliation was more brutal than the last. It was definitely enemy number 2, so much more unnatural strength. Satoshi fought back, swinging his book like a mad man. He heard another sound, it must have been enemy number 1. "Get it!" Satoshi shouted for some reason in his desperate panic. He swung the book harder and it made contact with a thud. Then another thud, but not from himself, from enemy number 1. Both of them started laying into enemy number 2.

And then it was over. Enemy number 2 backed away ultimately admitting his defeat, hissing at them like a snake...or a cat maybe? Satoshi inhaled and exhaled fervently and readied his trusty book just in case enemy number 1 decided to turn on him again.

A sort of clicking sound and Satoshi's eyes suddenly hurt. It was the lights, they were on. Satoshi stood there with his mouth open, realising who enemy number 1 had been all along. "Yoshiki?" He said.

A pause. "You idiot." Yoshiki complained, turning a crowbar in his hand. No wonder his shoulder hurt so much.

"Me? What did I do?"

"You -" Yoshiki stopped himself and let out a short laugh.

Satoshi smiled too, wondering if he had missed a joke. "What's so funny?"

Yoshiki sighed dramatically. "Nothing." He said. "You with Yuka?"

"You mean she's not with you?" Satoshi was hoping she would have made her way back to them since she wasn't in the basement. Or at least he hoped she wasn't in the basement. "Oh no I haven't seen her since the auditorium."

Yoshiki scrunched up his face. "Shit." Satoshi's expression became deeply troubled. Yoshiki was looking around, seemed they were in the library. The place was a mess now.

Enemy number 2, whatever it was, was gone. Yoshiki was looking at his hand, which was covered in blood. Satoshi hoped that wasn't his blood. One hand injury was bad enough.

"So what happened to you? Where have you been?" Yoshiki asked.

Satoshi gave a deadpan stare. "Long story."

And so he explained about how he was separated from Naomi and Yuka and the passage that appeared in the wall and the basement and the horrifying body room and how he had got here in the first place.

Yoshiki didn't seem phased by it at first. But his face went pale at one point, like a sudden realisation had hit him.

"What is it?" Satoshi asked with concern.

Yoshiki wouldn't look him in the eyes. "It's about Nakashima." Is all he said.


	20. Body Count

Satoshi was devastated by the news of Naomi. Together in the auditorium really would be the last time he ever saw her, and that was hard to accept. Yoshiki tried to spare most of the worst details but that made room for his own horrible ideas. Too many feelings had hit at once and they ended up in the library much longer than they should have.

Upon leaving, their confusion grew. "Everything's different." Said Satoshi.

Everything was different, Yoshiki had seen the first change, how everything shifted around giving the school a whole new layout. But it had changed again and this time it was a whole new eyesore. There were desks in halls and walls on floors, ceilings split in half in impossible ways, the weirdest part was a window rooted into the floor. Yoshiki and Satoshi looked down into it, it was pitch black.

"What happened?" Satoshi asked.

Yoshiki answered as well as he could. "It was different earlier, thing's had shifted in a way. Shinozaki said it had something do with the closed spaces breaking down. But it wasn't this bad."

Satoshi's head went around curiously like a dog sniffing the air. "Do you...feel that?"

Yoshiki went still. "No what is it? You feel an earthquake coming or something?"

Satoshi didn't answer. The sound of cracking wood spread through the hall and they turned their eyes to the floor. It was breaking. "Move." Satoshi said urgently. They both started to make their way forward but no where was safe. Everywhere they stepped the floor was collapsing, one plank at a time until it hit all at once. They were forced to run, avoiding floor that broke or simply disappeared in front of them. It was coming apart from behind them too. Keeping them on the move.

The wreckage was catching up. Each step they took was followed by shattering floor until it was practically happening under their feet. And Yoshiki felt himself fall. Satoshi skidded to a halt, and lucky for him where he was standing was secure, like he had reached the end of the line. "Yoshiki!" He yelled and looked down at where the floor should have been. Yoshiki was holding on to the edge, a black void of nothingness surrounded him. A bottomless pit for all they knew. Satoshi grabbed for him and together he managed to pull himself back up.

"Shit that was close." Said Yoshiki, who was out of breath.

Satoshi was also panting. "I know. What's happening? The school... It's like falling apart!"

Yoshiki stared seriously at the now non existent floorboards. "Yeah and we have to make sure we're not here when the whole thing comes down."

They stood up. "You're right. Let's go." Said Satoshi.

"My student ID you still have it right?" Yoshiki asked as they paced forward.

Satoshi for assurance quickly checked checked his pockets. "Yeah don't worry. Sorry I forgot to give it to you earlier."

"It's fine just glad you have it otherwise I would have been stuck in this place."

"I wouldn't have left without you anyway Yoshiki."

Yoshiki stayed silent for a good couple of seconds. "Thanks." He said still looking ahead.

"So you really think this place is breaking down?" Satoshi asked.

"Yeah, Sachiko's clearly gone batshit, this place isn't going to last much longer. We need to find Yuka, meet up with the others and get out of here now."

"I know. Where do we start then?" He was asking himself as much as Yoshiki.

"Okay we could-Stop!"

Satoshi stopped and stared with confused eyes at Yoshiki. "Huh? We should what?"

Yoshiki had turned the corner first, his pupils were wide. Satoshi was scared to lay eyes on whatever he was seeing. Yoshiki jerked his head forward and Satoshi fell in place beside him. His heart jumped and then turned cold. "What" Is all he could say.

There was ghosts. The red ones that were shaped like little flames. Hard to believe they were once people. Over a dozen of them hovered in front of them practically blocking off a whole chunk of the school. The boys had already established that they could not go back the way they came.

Yoshiki let his eyes go cold, so that if these ghosts were a threat they wouldn't mistake him for being afraid of them. He stared them down, although they had no eyes to look into.

Satoshi wasn't focusing on Yoshiki's stare down. His own approaches usually involved polite, reasonable discussions and only altercations if necessary. He hoped it wouldn't be necessary. He had to remind himself that these were the souls of human beings, most likely children and not just little flames that he was supposed to be afraid of.

"You think they'll let us pass?" Yoshiki whispered to Satoshi.

Satoshi stood firm. "I hope so. Let's find out." And he took a few steps forward, testing his limits. Seeing if they would step aside.

And then one of the flames...one of the children spoke. "You don't deserve to leave." There were whispers, as if the others were nodding in collective agreement.

"Why not?" Satoshi asked precariously.

"Why should you? We couldn't." It was the voice of a broken and angry soul. "It still hurts. You know that don't you? It never stops and it hurts forever and it will never stop." There was groans from all around.

"We might be able to help." Said Satoshi. "The school it's breaking down. You see that don't you? Sachiko's losing control. After she's appeased it could be over, the school might disappear for all we know. And your souls will be set free with it." Obviously Satoshi didn't know this for sure but It wasn't a complete lie, it could be possible.

The ghosts were not convinced. All of them started to say thing's at once. Different voices echoed around Satoshi's head, the voices of angry boys and girls, angry at him for not being like them. "He's lying." One shouted and many agreed. "He doesn't know what it's like." Another chimed in. "Why should he get to live?" And more of "It hurts." And different variations of the phrase. Finally some just started to chant "Die!" And the word grew louder as more voices joined in. Satoshi nervously looked back at Yoshiki and the moment they made eye contact the flames made their move.

Yoshiki looked back, there was no point going that way. "Go through them!" He yelled. "Just run through!" And they were off. And the flames were ready.

* * *

Mitsuki didn't scream. Maybe she meant to but it wasn't there. Three things were different when she left the bathroom. (1) Kishinuma and Shimada were gone. (2) The school had shifted again, it was a mess now, there was a desk stuck halfway through a wall, more chunks of floor were missing, the walls somehow seemed...misplaced. It was all wrong. (3) Kizami. He was here now and he looked pissed, Mitsuki tried not to look at his hand. Kizami was her classmate, she was concerned, but weary too.

When Ayumi came out of the bathroom she screamed. And there in Kizami's hollow eyes was a glint of enjoyment. So Mitsuki furrowed her brown and took a step back. She wanted to trust her classmate- her supposed friend so much, especially since she had believed everyone but Shimada from her class to be dead. But she knew better, something wasn't right. It all started with the look in his eyes and then the smile on his face.

"Yamamoto." He said almost excitedly. "It's so good to see you're okay!" Mitsuki did her best to keep her eyes hard and unrelenting. Kizami just smiled.

Ayumi with a dry throat finally found her words. "You-... He was there when Nakashima died, he... he stopped her from getting away." Mitsuki's heart jolted inside of her and it only added to the uneasiness. Was it possible he did something to Shinohara too? Even if not, he wasn't the Kizami she knew, he couldn't be. She had never seen him look so manic before.

"What happened to you Kizami? You don't looks so good." Said Mitsuki.

Kizami's grin grew. "Funny cause I feel fantastic."

They were in danger Ayumi knew that, she hoped that Mitsuki did too. "What do you want?" She said, a catch in her voice that couldn't be missed.

He was about to say something when both girls caught eye of Sachiko. Watching them. Not amused in the slightest. Kizami turned to her and back to the girls, he continued to smile. And when he took a step closer they knew they had to get away.

* * *

Seiko was standing in front of the mirror. She couldn't open the door, she was stuck here. And another thing; her reflection was reversed. It had taken her a moment to fully realise. She had stood there in front of it and thought: 'something's not right' and then it hit. It was reversed. Why? Where was she?

Hell?

"Dammit!" She screamed and threw her hand at the mirror. It shattered and blood poured from a new cut in her hand. The room shook. 'Not another earthquake' She thought, there had been enough.

But apparently there hadn't been. Because the room shook more and Seiko watched as each other mirror shattered by themselves. She screamed and simultaneously a crack appeared in the wall, a huge one going right up to the ceiling, like a tear in the room. She ran back to the stall she was in. 'Take me back' She whispered desperately. She would have started to shout as the shaking became more violent if her throat didn't suddenly feel so tight, like she was choking. She couldn't breathe but there was nothing around her neck. The pressure was becoming unbearable, she stood up, her eyes streaming tears and bloodshot. She stumbled into the door unable to balance with the intensity of the vibrations. And she pushed on it, hard until it gave way and once again spat her out onto the bathroom floor. Seiko greedily breathed in the air and put her hands to her throat to make sure nothing was wrapped around it.

The shaking came to a halt but she wasn't sure anything had changed. The massive tear from the wall to the ceiling was still there. She stood and made it to the door. It opened. But nothing was here and everything was different, a mess really. She noticed a desk stuck half way through a wall. She was starting to convince herself that she had entered a teleporting bathroom stall, and now she was afraid it had taken her to somewhere all alone. All alone forever.

* * *

"Keep going!" Satoshi yelled, even though he couldn't pinpoint where abouts Yoshiki was in all this mess.

The flames burned him as he passed, they didn't have hands to drag him down but the damage they could do to his skin made them worthy obstacles.

Yoshiki was being crowded by them. And what they were doing to him hurt. This was their way of vengeance, taking their anger out on those who didn't know true suffering. Well they were about to. Yoshiki swung his arms to get through and sometimes it would work, the flames would momentarily dissipate, but one after another they would reappear behind him, much angrier.

He was about to be swallowed by them when he tripped and realised he had made it through. But they were swarming him again and he had to get up fast. Satoshi was there, bruised and burnt he helped his friend to his feet and they ran faster than any flame could. But it wasn't over. They were coming.

* * *

Mitsuki was on her back trying to make sense of everything, she couldn't breath. Kizami had used his freak hand to launch her. Her back had scraped across the floor, ripping her clothes and pulling her skirt all the way up. God it hurt.

Ayumi, although terrified bravely went for Kizami, pounding her fists into his back to distract him from Mitsuki, who right now with the wind knocked out of her was easy prey.

Sachiko wanted in on the action now. She wanted to get her hands dirty. She had seen it all, this school was her home and these monsters who were supposed to be here for her enjoyment were messing it all up with their appeasements and such. Her anger was making her messy, she had lost control of the schools form, it was breaking away from her. Trying to become its own entity. She wasn't worried about an uprising from any of the lost souls though, they were scared of her and only angry at the living, they might end up being useful. Meanwhile her own anger was still boiling inside her, feelings she thought weren't possible for a dead broken girl like herself.

Who should she keep for herself? How about the girl stupid enough to anger her in the first place. Sachiko felt a connection to her, a connection that ran through her veins. Why not her then? She had made Yoshikazu do almost all of her bidding this time around, he had been very busy and it would remain that way but she should at least have some fun herself.

Kizami with the new hand Sachiko gave him could have ended Ayumi in a second, and he was about to when she told him to stop. "Mine." She said simply and Kizami had learned not to refute when it came to Sachiko.

He released Ayumi and watched her fall back. There was a feeling in his back, his pain resistance had went right up since Sachiko had her way with him but his body was still human once. So he felt it when the disheveled Mitsuki speared him from behind with the nearest weapon she could find - an old thin plank of wood -.

Sachiko didn't react much. "No point." She said blankly. "I've made him stronger."

"Run!" Mitsuki screamed and both of them went. It wasn't just here, the whole school was disarranged and ultimately more dangerous, with sharp planks and bits of metal stuck to and sticking out of everywhere. Cabinets that belonged in classrooms blocked the hallways and made their escape ultimately more difficult.

Then there was a gap. An uncrossable gap in the floor. "We can go back." Said Ayumi.

"No we can't."Mitsuki protested. "They'll be right there we have to jump!"

It took Ayumi a second. She looked at the space in the floor. With a running start yes they could jump but if she missed it was into the black void in between. And Ayumi had never been that athletic. "Jump?!" She echoed back. "No I can't!"

"We have to! I'm not going back." And Mitsuki got into position for her running start. She was right, Kizami and Sachiko were coming. Ayumi leaned over and almost puked but held it back. Not now. She lined with Mitsuki and got ready. More terrified than she had ever been, the shaking had to stop or she would simply not be able to move never mind run and jump. Then it would surely all be over. She focused on her fear of the two monsters approaching her and put it above the fear of falling to her death.

"Now." Mitsuki shouted and they were off. Neither could see it but Kizami was ecstatic at what he was witnessing.

Both of them made it. Ayumi crawled on her stomach and Mitsuki landed on her knees an inch away from the edge. "No." Ayumi wailed when she looked up. The monster with the hammer was back. Always there, always ready to ruin everything. But in all the times he had interfered he had never once succeeded. And Ayumi hoped it would stay that way.

He didn't lift his hammer and swing. This time he swung it down low, keeping the head an inch away from the ground. It went straight for Mitsuki and slammed into her body pushing her back. She fell off the edge and down into the hole. Not gone yet though. She held onto the hammer tight and Ayumi watched horrified as she was left dangling in the air with her fingers gripped to the weapon. If Yoshikazu let the hammer go now she would go down with it, but then he would have no weapon, so he didn't. Instead he swung the hammer around trying to get her to loosen her grip. She didn't, she climbed up and Yoshikazu was forced to pull his hammer back where she could drop safely to the ground. Mitsuki didn't hesitate, she ran and Ayumi followed.

* * *

Yoshiki and Satoshi were separated again. Lost in a sea of flames. They couldn't run forever.

Satoshi fought his way through and wasn't about to stop, but he was getting tired. All of a sudden his energy was gone, just like that. He kept going. His legs were cold and now for some reasons they were numb. Must be the nerves. He fell down and realised he couldn't move. There was a strange sensation running down his spine. Blood poured from his mouth and then everything stopped. His body went still.

* * *

For a moment Ayumi and Mitsuki thought they had got away. Both were sorely mistaken. Sachiko was in control of this school, to think a space in the floor could stop her was absurd. She brought Kizami with her and knowing Sachiko reserved Ayumi for herself he left her and instead grabbed Mitsuki, by the hair, he dragged her over and held her down. Before he started on her he wanted her to know what he had done to their fellow classmates. He needed to see the look in her eyes.

Mitsuki shouted at Ayumi to keep going and so she did. She was too terrified and in her own opinion too weak to do anything to help anyway. Sachiko followed close behind. She was only able to maim three people so far with her own hands, and today was meant to be a proper culling, what a disaster, how disappointing. Oh well she'd make it all up by making this one - and hopefully a few more afterwards - slow, painful and memorable.

Sachiko stopped and frowned. Where did she go? She was embarrassed to admit that she may have lost track during her thinking. "I know where you are!" She shouted hoping it would reach Ayumi. It was a lie but it wouldn't be for long.

* * *

Yoshiki screamed when he saw Satoshi. He had made his through the crowd of flames and found him lying there still. A large chunk of metal, something that looked like a table leg was sticking out off his back. There wasn't much blood. His heart had stopped before his body had time to pump out any more. Yoshiki roared in anger. Those bastards! Murderers! He felt no sympathy for them, what they'd been through didn't excuse their actions now. His anger was burning. This place, this school was taking everything from him. Not everything, not Shinozaki. Yoshiki was going to find her now. He wanted to cover Satoshi, or even put him into a less morbid position but had nothing to use and no time to spare. "I'll come back." He said, shook his head and went off before the flames caught up with him again.

The anger and sadness at once was making it hard to focus but he knew he couldn't get clumsy now. Shinozaki wasn't the only one he had to find. Yuka as well, he would protect her with his life if he had to, for Satoshi. And Shinohara, he owed it to her. They were his priorities and it hurt his heart to realise that they were all that was left.

He had to find them. All of them.

* * *

Ayumi had accidentally circled back in her attempt at escape. Mitsuki was bleeding badly but still alive. Kizami was shouting at her, trying to get a reaction out of her. But she held her tongue, wouldn't scream and wouldn't beg. Wouldn't give him the satisfaction.

Ayumi watched in shock, neither Mitsuki or Kizami saw her standing there. Until she screamed. More of a yelp. Sachiko had caught up and pushed Ayumi from behind to the ground. Mitsuki turned her head away as if she had seen enough and Kizami came up to Sachiko, done with Mitsuki he left her to bleed. He had a bloody knife in his hand.

Sachiko motioned for Kizami to give it to her. Ayumi sat there paralyzed, gripped by only fear.

"Stop!" Their heads turned. Seiko had arrived.

"No" Kizami said almost rudely which caused Sachiko to give a quick snort of laughter.

All was silent and then there was the sound of heels hitting off wood as Seiko fearlessly walked over to them. Sachiko was almost eager to see what she would do. Outnumbered and out-powered what was her game plan here.

Seiko didn't have one. But she didn't ever want to have to watch from the side lines again. With a moment to decide what to do Seiko slapped Sachiko. And she was almost sure in doing so she had signed her own death sentence, but was she ever meant to make it out alive anyway? She didn't think so. "For Naomi and all the other people you took from me."

Sachiko rubbed her face. Death in her eyes. Yoshiki showed up next from behind her and she barely looked. "The more the merrier." She muttered. Sachiko ignored Seiko, brought the knife up and threw it towards Ayumi. But Yoshiki was there, he half pushed, half blocked. Sachiko didn't flinch afterwards, she was straight back to business. She decided to have a little fun, instead of going for Yoshiki she would test him, see how long he would bother to protect her.

Seiko tried to help but Kizami stopped her. He slapped her hard and even though it was with his normal hand still left a small gash. She kept trying to go through him, again and again and again. Unrelenting. Kizami was both amused by and annoyed by her persistence. For now he would humour her. Though he grew bored and so did Sachiko.

Sachiko made a much bigger go at Ayumi but Yoshiki wouldn't let her and in the end she gave up and took the easier target. She stuck the knife in his gut and twisted it. Ayumi screamed and Sachiko thought that maybe this was better. This was the one who stuck a knife in her face after all. And that's when it hit Sachiko. Her hand burned. This was the same knife. She let it go in a panic letting Yoshiki fall back beside Ayumi whose mouth was open in a now silent scream. She inadvertently ripped the knife out of him when she pulled back and it fell to the floor.

Sachiko looked at her hand. It had a small mark left by the knife. It must have belonged to someone who was indeed aware of spirits and their weaknesses. It was some sort of blessed knife and if Sachiko wasn't as strong as she was it might have burned her whole hand off. In her bloodlust she had failed to notice its aura.

The knife sat on the ground and Sachiko merely stared at it. Then it was gone, snatched by Seiko who had despite all odds made her way past Kizami. She swung it at Sachiko's face desperately but she jumped back and it went by harmlessly. Seiko didn't bother trying again, she swung round on her heels and thrusted it forwards at the oncoming Kizami, and she hit him, right in the neck.

Kizami was confused, caught off guard but also confused at the sight of blood. Sachiko told him he couldn't get hurt, not really. He had been struck in the back earlier and it had barely injured him, but this was different, he was bleeding and it wouldn't stop. He looked at Sachiko who didn't look angry or sad or amused, her expression was almost clueless. "Idiot." She said. "You do have weak spots you know." But Kizami didn't know, she hadn't mentioned this before and now he was worried. Sachiko walked up and put her tiny hand on his neck. "Huh, looks bad." She sounded careless. "If you don't die I'll fix you but you'll have to give me a minute." She turned back to the three Kisaragi students, but they were gone.

Sachiko tutted. "It's okay. I'll catch up again." Her eyes caught sight of the corpse of a girl with a bruised up face, her eyes were wide and pointed straight at her. But no that wasn't a corpse, not yet. She could hear Kizami gurgling behind her but ignored him and went up to Mitsuki. She would be dead soon no denying that but Sachiko was angry and wanted to take credit for a kill. The bruise on her face was so ripe, like a giant target. Sachiko lifted her foot and with almighty strength squashed her face into the ground. Only a few more to go.


	21. So Close

If you were to look at Ayumi right now, with her swollen eyes and pale face you might assume she was the one who had just been stabbed and not Yoshiki. But it was Yoshiki, she wasn't sure how it happened. She thought that it might have been an accident, that maybe he had tripped in front of her. Or maybe Sachiko had just changed her mind and went for him instead. Either way he had been stabbed and all Ayumi could do was stare. She stared at the blood soaking through his shirt like it could hurt her. It was Seiko who made the next move, if she hadn't they all would have surely been killed right there and then as soon as Sachiko turned to look at them. But when Sachiko _did_ turn to look at them they were gone. In almost impossible time Seiko silently initiated their escape. After she had gathered Ayumi's attention both of the girls put their arms around their newly injured friend and limped away barely avoiding Sachiko's gaze.

There was nowhere safe to go that they knew of, the schools new shift had left them directionless. All the rooms were the same just in different places and that wasn't very useful. It was by some grace that they found the principal's office. Yoshiki recognised it immediately and made sure to inform the girls of the secret passageway in it; the one Morishige had decided they should come back to later. They laboriously made their way to the door and were relieved to find the passage in the wall was just where Yoshiki said it would be.

"Kishinuma, there's a ladder how are you going to be able to climb down it you can barely walk?" Ayumi pointed out while she caught her breath.

Kishinuma looked down into the passage and his hand tightened around his wound. "I'll manage." He lied and since they didn't have any other choice they went down. Yoshiki went first so that he could be helped from the top. Like Ayumi had suspected it wasn't easy, each step was incredibly slow and looked unbearably painful and in the end Yoshiki didn't make it all the way down without falling. It sent rackets of pain through his body and Ayumi couldn't stifle a scream. She hurried down after him in a much quicker pace than himself and he assured her that he was alright and that 'he wasn't even that far from the ground anyway.' Yoshiki didn't think it would make a difference anyway, he was surely as close to death as you could be.

That leaves them here. Underground. Stopped to rest up against one of the shabby dirt walls. Ayumi like the rest of them hadn't eaten in hours so she assumed that her body had nothing left in it. She was proved wrong when she was informed of Satoshi's death. She only made it a short distance from her friends before she could no longer keep the liquid in her throat from shooting up. It was a horrible feeling but not horrible enough since it didn't distract from what she had just heard, or what she had just been through or what she was probably about to go through.

Seiko didn't go over to comfort her, she was too busy tending to Yoshiki and part of her was glad because she didn't know how to do that anymore, 'comfort'. What did it even mean? Nothing would help. Those sort of thoughts made her feel as horrible as the burning in Ayumi's empty stomach.

Seiko truly felt for her. She thought honestly that if Ayumi hadn't already been in shock the news of Satoshi's death might well have sent her over the edge, or even allowed the darkening in. ...Or maybe she was just stronger than she thought.

Seiko was relieved to find she was still carrying the bandages from when she wrapped Yoshiki's hand. She couldn't exactly call it luck after everything that happened, but it was something.

Ayumi wiped her mouth and turned to her friends. Seiko was staring at her as she pushed down on Yoshiki's wound. It was a serious look. Ayumi stood up and rejoined her now very small group. The mood was tormenting. A bunch of traumatised teenagers sitting around contemplating how likely they were to end up dead is a sore sight. Yoshiki looked at the blood on his hands and wondered how much time he had left. And he wondered if it was worth it. He looked at Ayumi, she was alive and he was grateful and doubted he'd go back and do thing differently if he could. But she was so sad, her eyes hollow and her heart broken because the one she really loved was dead and now she was stuck here with him. Alive though, and that's what really mattered.

"What do we do?" Seiko asked with fear in her voice.

Ayumi wiped her eye with her sleeve. "We know how to get out...we have what we need..." Her voice was soft but convicted.

"We need to get Yuka." Yoshiki said.

"Okay. So that's it then. After we find Yuka we can just... leave? We do the ritual properly and we leave?" Seiko said, she sounded more hopeful than the others even if only by a little.

Ayumi thought it over. "Yes...but how are we going to find Yuka? Kishinuma Isn't going to be able to move and we can't leave him by himself."

"I'll go then." Seiko didn't hesitate.

"On your own!?" Yoshiki and Ayumi said at once.

"You can't." Said Yoshiki. "This school's too dangerous especially now."

"And what if I don't? Yuka dies all by herself." She shook her head defiantly. "I'm going."

"But what if you don't come back." Ayumi said blankly.

"I will. I promise."

"Shit."

The girls turned to Yoshiki. "What is it?"

"My student ID...the paper scrap I don't have it."

"What do you mean you don't have it!" Ayumi looked like she might throw up again. It would have been comical if it absolutely weren't funny.

"Satoshi...I never took it back off him... he still has it." Yoshiki said slowly, almost with shame.

Seiko's head faced the ground. "Okay then I'll get that too. You'll just have to tell me where he is."

Ayumi started to cry.

So Yoshiki told Seiko where Satoshi's body was. And Ayumi assured Seiko that she'd keep pressure on Yoshiki's wound. And then Seiko left, alone.

* * *

The school was a mess. It wasn't exactly in working condition before but this was inoperative. If Seiko were to have any luck finding any of the things she was looking for and her way back to the basement then that's exactly what it would be: luck.

A little black dot caught her eye. At least from far away it was a dot, up close Seiko discovered it was actually a small childs cat plushie. She had no use for it but something told her to take it anyway, and Seiko had always prided herself on her intuition.

And her intuition got her further than she thought. Despite Yoshiki's shady directions Seiko found what she was looking for not long after leaving the basement. Though it wasn't something to be pleased about.

Seiko had watched her best friend die in front of her, watched her corpse be carried away like a broken toy, but it didn't mean she was unphasable. She wasn't yet numb. Satoshi's body; or at least the sight of it, hit home.

Slowly but with a strong posture Seiko went over to her friends body. It took her a minute to get close but at the same time she couldn't look away.

"I'm so sorry. Forgive me." She whispered as she bent down to her knees. She drew her hands forward and slid them into each one of his pockets until she found what she was looking for. When she pulled the ID back she pulled her body back with it and released the breath she had been holding. Yoshiki's ID wasn't the only thing she had. She took Satoshi's too: a sign of respect. There was something else too that her curious hands couldn't help grab hold of; a little pink notebook, it seemed an odd thing for him to have which meant he must have picked it up along the way for some reason. That's why she took it.

Seiko squeezed her eyes closed and took a final large breath. Her intuition was clawing at her, she opened her eyes and saw something else: the shadow of something and a small glow radiating from behind her. It was so small and no where near human shaped. She knew what it was without turning around. Yoshiki had warned her about them, he said it was these little red flames themselves that killed Satoshi.

Despite the urge to look back Seiko pushed herself off the ground and ran forward away from the flames. She made the mistake of turning her head to see if they were following her and that's when she ran right onto the visibly unsteady floor. It broke and there was a wave of butterflies in her stomach as she fell.

Seiko only opened hey eyes when she realised the floor was no longer falling, and she wasn't plummeting down with it. The part she was on was stuck like a hangnail, tilted at a diagonal angle but still barely attached to the rest of the floor. And Seiko was as near to the bottom as she could get; on her hands and knees but facing upwards. The grasping chunk of floor which she was on was creaking and shaking unreassuringly and was bound to snap off. So Seiko climbed. Climbing might not be the right word for it, it more of an upwards crawl.

She dug her fingernails into the wood and heaved her body forward. Using her knees to push up one bit at a time, as a result they were becoming increasingly scathed with little bits of wood starting to stick to the skin and blood beginning to draw.

Now she was nearly at the top and back on flat ground. The broken platform was wonky and beginning to bounce each time she got higher. Seiko was sure she could reach the top in only a few more moves and because of her eagerness she started to rush, which cost her almost half of her progress when she lost her grip and slid back down. She let out a scream because her bare leg skin took the brunt of it all.

Still the platform didn't snap off and only shook more. So she climbed again. And this time when she was close to the top she knew better than to rush, even when she felt the platform giving way with every push. With great strain she pulled herself up and felt the floor fall away from her legs, but she was already safe. Her exhaustion was great and very repressing and her legs were constantly stinging and probably would be for the rest of her time here. Seiko felt a great need to lie down and regain her strength if she was going to make it back to her friends so of course it would be at this exact same time that the shadows re-introduce themselves.

Seiko had only seen them once. When Naomi was murdered (killed was too soft of a word in Seiko's opinion, what she saw was murder) and so that's the memory they were associated with. Even if they weren't and even if she had never seen them before in her life she knew they were bad. Anyone could tell that. Like with many things in this place it's the aura that gives it away, and their aura was nothing short of evil.

The first eagerly made a grab for her and she rolled to one side. With complete inelegance she threw herself to her feet and stumbled away from the shrieking evil. Despite the pain in her body Seiko was surprisingly fast; but these things could fly and dissipate and reappear in front of her, they had the advantage.

She dodged and ducked her way down the halls panting uncontrollably. Her throat was cold and hurt from the running. One made a grab for her and pulled her to the ground but they weren't any less clumsy than she was so she was able to evade it.

Seiko stopped running. She had heard a scream. "...Yuka?" She asked the empty space in front of her. There was another and she turned her head. It was coming from the direction of the shadows. So either bravely or foolishly Seiko ran back.

It wasn't easy and it was hardly graceful. The shadows were clawing at her, digging at her, trying to enter her body. And only now did Seiko notice that there were clouds of dust falling from the ceiling: it was breaking.

She ran faster and swung her arms as quickly as her legs were going as a defense against the shadows. It done her little good. Part of her was accepting death and part of her was rejecting the idea entirely. She had too much to do, both in here and in the real world.

She heard the scream again and this time it was so close it pierced her ear drum. The ceiling collapsed, she could hear that too. Seiko felt an extreme pressure on her body, and then she felt nothing.


	22. Fated

"This is my fault."

"Shinozaki, don't."

"It is! I did this. I did this everyone. I did this to you..." A catch in Ayumi's voice raised. Yoshiki was still.

Ayumi panicked at his lack of movement. "Kishinuma?" She said alarmed.

"I'm okay..."

Ayumi held Yoshiki close keeping her hand over his bloody knife wound. She listened to his heavy breaths one after the other. He felt her skin, her body warmth holding him.

"What happened Kishinuma? Did you trip?" A part of Ayumi already knew the answer. "Tell me you tripped you're always so clumsy. You're always so stubborn you know that Kishinuma. Why did you have to be so stubborn?"

Yoshiki hardened his voice."Talk about stubborn! Did you want to die? Is that it. If that's what you want Shinozaki, then yeah, I tripped." There was an edge to his voice.

"I didn't want you to help me! I didn't want anyone to get hurt because of me!"

"I don't give a shit! I wasn't about to let her take you." Yoshiki's tone shifted down again." Ha...I'd die before I willfully let that happen."

Ayumi's voice was blank. "Kishinuma that's not funny." She looked at the blood that was starting to drip down onto the floor and let out her frustrations. "Why Kishinuma? You would have been fine!"

Yoshiki didn't relent. "And you wouldn't be!" He said it so matter-of-factly, like he didn't understand the severity of the situation, like he didn't understand he was dying. And that's what Ayumi couldn't understand.

Her voice was almost childish. "Who cares about me!"

"I do." There was a moment of silence. "I don't want you to blame yourself if I die." He tried not to sound scared but he was.

"You're not going to die."

"If I do... I don't care how bad you feel it wasn't you."

"It was because me that you got hurt. I just don't understand. Why would you do that..."

"No Shinozaki you're not listening. It wasn't because of you... it was _for_ you...my choice, there's a difference." Yoshiki couldn't be sure why he was deciding to say all of this now. It seemed so easy now that he might be dying and he wondered why it couldn't have been easy before. "No matter what I want you to make it out. You deserve to make it out." He added determinedly.

Ayumi shook her head and for so many reasons tears streamed down her face. Yoshiki realised she wasn't going to say anything.

"Shinozaki you made my life better. You saved me. No matter what that's what matters." And he laughed. "I guess if I'm going to die then I wouldn't want to be with anyone else."

"What are you saying you're not making sense." It must be the blood loss, he didn't know what he was saying. "Don't die Kishinuma you can't." A huge part of Ayumi couldn't bare to be alone right now. The thought of the dreadful silence that could follow made her body go cold.

But he was making perfect sense. He was finally making sense. No attitude, no facade just his last honest confession. "Shit it's cold." And he was cold, and tired as well.

"Kishinuma..."

He stopped her from saying anything. "I'm not scared anymore. It's not me I've been rooting for." He smiled weakly but sincerely.

Ayumi sounded even more pained now. "Stop."

"You'll be okay. I promise."

Ayumi sobbed louder. He was wrong she wouldn't be okay, not all alone like this. She finally found her words. "No you'll be okay. You can't be the only one who gets to make promises. You'll be okay ... I promise."

Yoshiki was adamant. "And if I'm not it's okay."

"Kishinuma!" Ayumi raised her voice. She wished he would stop trying to make her feel better, if anything it was worse. She wanted him to blame her, to spit his words at her, to tell her the truth; that everyone of their friends deaths was her fault and that she'd deserve to carry that burden.

But still Yoshiki remained convicted. "Leave me if you have to."

"I won't do that." How could she possibly let herself be responsible for another of her friends deaths? The death toll was already high enough.

"If i'm too weak if I can't move..."

She counted the blood of 6 of her friends including Ms Yui that was on her hands and then she added another two because she had an awful feeling Seiko and Yuka were never coming back. "All you have to do is say the ritual and then we'll be home."

"But if I can't..."

"You will, you have to." Ayumi looked down at Yoshiki who was paler than ever. "Promise me."

"I..." He started but stopped himself.

"Promise." She insisted.

"So bossy you know that."

Ayumi actually laughed. Something she didn't know she could do anymore. "Shut up idiot." She gave him another look, he looked so tired. She thought it might be weird but what did it matter now? Ayumi drew her hand through his hair. Maybe it was shock that was making her act this way. Shock over the death of Satoshi - the boy she loved. And maybe Yoshiki was just a substitute for him. Or did she really care about him now? Not just because she was grateful but because she saw him now. Because she was truly scared her friend might die? Only Ayumi really knew the answer.

Despite his deliriousness Yoshiki could truly enjoy this moment. He kept talking, it was all coming out now and decided there was no reason to stop half way. "I owe you so much."

Ayumi replied without pondering what he actually meant by that. "I think it's me who owes you now."

"You mean because I tripped?" He joked. Ayumi didn't say anything. "I'd never hold anything against you." He grinned.

Ayumi barely held in a loud sob. "How did this happen?"

Yoshiki answered all too casually. "I don't know, fate maybe."

"Fate?! This was our fate!?"

"I like fate."

"How could you-" Yoshiki didn't cut her off, she just didn't know how to finish.

Nevertheless he understood the question. "I met you through fate."

"I thought you didn't believe in stuff like that."

"Guess what a few hours ago I didn't believe in ghosts either."

"Seems you should start listening to me."

"Ha, yeah maybe, but not all the times. You're too selfless."

Ayumi was genuinely shocked. "Selfless! I'm anything but!"

"Don't put yourself down..."

"You're different Kishinuma."

"Different from what you thought?"

"Yes but I mean...the things you're saying it's not you, it's not how you talk."

"No, just how I think."

"It's the blood loss."

"You're right...nothing left to lose so why not tell the truth."

Ayumi shook her head. "Stay awake." She promptly reminded him.

"Talk to me then."

"What do you want to talk about?"

"You tell me something. What do you want to do? In the future I mean."

"It doesn't matter now." Ayumi sounded deflated.

"It matters to me." It was the truth.

Ayumi drew a breath. "...I want to be an illustrator. I want to draw and sketch and paint...maybe even design book covers, or make my own art. My parents never approved much but...it's what I want." Despite her lack of hope for survival Ayumi still said want instead of wanted.

Yoshiki wondered about his own parents. Who would break the news of his death to them? Would they care? "Hmph good for you. Parents have no right to tell you to stop being interesting."

Ayumi smiled.

"I would have liked to see you draw something."

"I'll draw you whatever you want Kishinuma."

"I want you to draw whatever you want...whatever makes you happy"

"I'll draw you whatever will make me happy then." She spoke softly.

"Thank you."

Why did it have to be she was only seeing this side of him now? Why did it take this much horror to see past the gruff outspoken delinquent she knew of so well? "That means we have to make it back. I'll even let you watch me draw and I never let anyone do that." It was true, she never did and she blushed at the thought.

"Oh now I just feel entitled."

"Ha stop it."

They fell silent.

Ayumi had a thought. "What about you?"

"What about me?"

"Kishinuma what do you want?"

"You'd slap me if I told you."

Ayumi went silent. She may have been clueless for all this time but she couldn't ignore what she was hearing now. Could Yoshiki truly be suggesting what it sounded like he was suggesting?

Yoshiki looked up at her, into her eyes scanning for a reaction. To see if she understood.

Ayumi brought the conversation back around. "Where did you see yourself in the future?"

Yoshiki tried to sigh but found it wasn't as easy when each breath was a challenge. "Not far to be honest. I was never going to be anyone important and never going to do something important. Probably not even something I liked but I didn't care. It is how it is."

The thought made Ayumi sad. "What makes you happy...?"

"Once again you'll slap me."

"You're not serious you're joking how can it be-"

"How can it be you? Because you're everything. I already told you you saved me."

Saved him. Saved him how? Ayumi really had no idea what he meant. She could see his eyelids trailing down. "Kishinuma don't." Her voice cracked. "Please don't." Her voice didn't sound desperate, it sounded serious.

"Trying my best here." He said this in his more recognisable cynical tone.

"Shinohara will be here soon and we'll go, we'll go and I'll draw you something and-" Her voice trailed off into a sob.

Yoshiki weakly lifted his hand and wiped her tears. She didn't reject it.

"Can't wait." He said

She smiled though her vision was blurry from the tears.

Yoshiki wasn't sure if she saw him smiling back.

* * *

A distant voice echoed through the halls. "Shinozaki! Kishinuma!" The sounds of two separate pairs of shoes clattered on and off the floor. Hand in hand Seiko was running back to her friends with Yuka by her side.


	23. Tortured Souls or Happily Ever After

Sachiko had never wanted to rip any beings apart more in her life than she did now. Her temper had flared and she was throwing a tantrum like any other 7 year old girl would. Yoshikazu remained still in the room, afraid to move and draw attention to himself. Sachiko screamed and threw the head of a young girls corpse towards the wall. She watched it plop to the ground. Throwing it didn't help. She was still angry. Sachiko sat down and put her face to her knees, she knew what they were planning. Sachiko couldn't decide if she was angry at them or herself...maybe part of her wanted to let them get to her, maybe they could save her... but the schools wrath quickly pushed those thoughts out of her head, her job was to torture souls and that's what she intended to do.

* * *

Ayumi picked up the small pink notebook Seiko had retrieved from Satoshi's body. Her heart had skipped a beat when she realised who it belonged to. The initial eagerness Ayumi felt when she first started reading began to die down, her face twisted as she skimmed through its contents. It did prove one thing: Escaping the clutches of Heavenly Host wasn't going to be as simple as re-doing the ritual. In the notebook Naho states herself that it will take appeasement. Sachiko's appeasement.

It got worse; Ayumi's bloodied hands trembled upon the pages as she read her favourite authors last certifiable entry.. "Naho...you...you did this." Ayumi merely muttered this to herself, no one else heard the poison that left her mouth. She slammed the notebook shut, and she kept her rage to herself.

Ayumi examined her meagre group. Kishinuma; pale and bloodied, Yuka; shaken and unresponsive, Seiko; tired and bruised. Herself; broken and...broken again. Now was the time to leave. Ayumi stood off the ground and peered around at her friends. With a sigh as her introduction she explained to them what was to happen next.

"Where do we find Sachiko?" Seiko asked when Ayumi finished speaking.

"The basement." Yoshiki answered before Ayumi could. "That's where her body is. She'll be there."

Ayumi nodded in agreement. "He's right." She looked at where they were: already underground. Ayumi knew they were close, she could feel it. "Alright...no time to waste. Let's find her now."

Seiko's heart churned. It was happening. Finally. What would they find when they came upon Sachiko? A way out? Death? Or a fate worse than death?

* * *

Sachiko may have been losing her grip on the school but she was still an omnipotent presence. She could see the pitiful group of 4 arduously making their way to her; to her body. Sachiko's head was pounding, the school was screaming at her and those screams seemed to echo and bounce around in her brain like a never ending nightmare. Who was the tortured soul now? "Mommy make it stop." The little girl squealed. Her tiny fingernails dug into her head as if to alleviate the noise. But still the building screamed. It wanted death. Sachiko could stop them, stop them all right now. They were weakened, one of them practically inches away from death. They were starved and thirsty and tired and frail and yet still going and still determined. Sachiko sneered but not entirely at them. She didn't care about them anymore all she wanted was for her fragile brain to stop hurting. Could they stop the hurting? The school screamed louder; It didn't like thoughts like that. But Sachiko had another thought that she couldn't push away; who was really hurting her? Was it the living beings that walked the halls or was it the school? Her place of death? The school which had once been the pride and joy of her very own murderer? The building screamed at her again and Sachiko even as naive as she was knew the answer. She watched the tiny cluster of students closen in on her and chose to do nothing, even when the screams drowned out everything else.

* * *

"It's through here." Ayumi muttered as they made their way to the dilapidated entrance-way.

Seiko stopped and wrapped her arms around herself to fight off the chill. "How do you know?"

"I can feel it."

Seiko didn't ask further questions.

There was one last mournful look shared between the group before they decided it was time to meet their fate.

A gasp filled the air as they made their way through. Yoshikazu Yanagihori; also known as the monster with the hammer's body swung absently from a noose between the two doorways.

Ayumi pulled her eyes away and went through.

The body of Sachiko Shinozaki lay wasted and decrepit in her cruel open grave. The blood red soul of the dead girl remained floating above it and although they had supposedly been freed Sachiko's own original victims Ryou and Tokiko stood at each side of the room accompanied by Kizami who Yuka fearfully shrunk away from.

"Get out! Leave! Don't look at me!" Sachiko bellowed out the commands one after the other with a firing intensity.

Ayumi whose eyes were unwillingly stuck onto the girls corpse forced herself into some semblance of composure. "Sachiko. We are here to help you!"

An unsettling vibration rippled through the ground. "I'll kill you! get out!"

The current form of Sachiko - they grey skinned girl with the red dress - appeared in front of them, blocking her own corpse from the onlooking eyes. Ayumi was aware of her bones beginning to tighten, she was paralyzed. Blood poured from her nose and ears as an immense pressure passed to her head. Ayumi was distantly mindful to the sound of Yuka's cries and pleas for her big brother.

Something was happening. Sachiko charged for Yuka with the intent to make her her next victim, but there was another Sachiko, a pure and fresh faced version wearing a white dress now standing in place at the front of her grave. Ayumi saw the opportunity.

With great strain the terrified girl reached for the tongue bag in her pocket and held it in front of her. "Sachiko." She choked out, "This is yours, It's a part of your body and I'm giving it back."

The white version of Sachiko flinched, an act that Ayumi took notice of. Yuka's screams echoed in her ears and Ayumi picked up the pace. She handed the bag to Sachiko, sparing no time before pulling out the small cat plushie Seiko had found.

A look glazed upon Sachiko's features as an old memory picked at her brain. Kizami angrily tried to get in the way. "No Sachiko! Don't let them trick you with their lies and fake pity!"

Sachiko wasn't paying attention, her suddenly innocent eyes were glued to the small remnant of her childhood: the one she never got to fully live.

"Sachiko!" Kizami yelled at her.

The little girl turned to him with a glower. And just like that Kizami was gone. No one questioned it and his presence was not missed.

A glint of hope shone in Ayumi's hollowed out eyes. They were getting through to her! She scrambled for her next move. But her pockets were empty, was it enough?

With no warning Sachiko let out a petrifying scream and before anyone realised it, disappeared. All that remained in the room was her corpse. A startling earthquake began to strike. Ayumi turned to the others. "We're doing this now! Take out your paper!"

"Sachiko hear our pleas!" Ayumi screeched. "We want to go home!" A noticeable shiver passed through her body. "All we want to do is set you free. You don't have to suffer anymore!"

The group nodded collectively.

"Sachiko we beg of you..."

"Sachiko we beg of you..."

"Sachiko we beg of you..."

"Sachiko we beg of you..."

"Sachiko we beg of you..."

Four small pieces of paper moved in on one another.

Sachiko was gone and the earth stood still.

* * *

The screaming finally stopped and the innocent little girl cried with relief. A purgative feeling washed over her. She was free.

* * *

The group shared curious glances with each other.

Seiko's gaze went from the empty grave to Ayumi. "Did we do it...?"

Ayumi was panting heavily. She looked around the room for signs of anything aloof. "I, I-"

"You did." A voice cut her off. The group turned to Yuki who now stood at the front of the room. "And you have to leave now. The veils between this world and yours is at its thinnest. The gate is open. You have to get outside of the building before it closes."

"What happens if we don't?" Yoshiki asked with his little strength.

Yuki faced down. "You'll have lost your chance to get out. You'll be trapped."

A chill ran down their spines. After everything they couldn't get stuck now.

"What about you?" Ayumi asked Yuki. "What will happen to all of you?"

Yuki's expression didn't shift. "We're part of this school now...we can't be saved."

Ayumi shook her head. "No..."

Yuki's tone shifted to fearful. "Please! Get out of the building while you still can!"

The building responded with tremendous vibrations. "She's right. Let's go!" Seiko pleaded.

No one had to say it twice. Ayumi gave one last grateful nod to Yuki and the group left.

It felt like the struggle was just beginning. Seiko was pretty sure she knew the way given all of her roaming around but Yoshiki didn't have much left in him and each toll of the bell was pulling them a step away from freedom.

"Shit. You should just go. I'm not going to make it." Yoshiki said through gritted teeth. Sweat ran down his face, he was practically being dragged to the exit.

Ayumi who was drenched with sweat too panted ferociously to get her breath back long enough to talk. "No! We're almost there! We'll all make it."

Yoshiki shook his head but kept going.

 _The first bell tolled_

They were almost there, Seiko was sure of it.

 _The second bell tolled_

Yoshiki fell to his knees but Seiko and Ayumi dragged him back up.

 _The third bell tolled_

The entrance-way was in sight, but Yuka stopped running. Seiko stopped and turned to her, she reached out her hand. "Yuka what are you doing? We have to go!"

The small girl shook her head. "No, I can't, not without my big brother." Seiko pivoted her head back to Ayumi and Yoshiki. She jerked her head at them, "Go." Ayumi tried to interject but Seiko stopped her. "Go. It's okay." Ayumi and Seiko shared a brief moment of eye contact. Seiko nodded and Ayumi was forced to put her faith in her.

 _The fourth bell tolled_

Seiko got down on her knees and took Yuka's hands into her own. "I know Yuka. I know how it feels."

Yuka shook her head and cried. "I can't leave him."

Seiko's voice was sharp but kind. "You're not leaving him you're escaping just like he wanted. All his efforts were for you Yuka. So you could get home. Do this for him. Run with me just a little further. It's what- it's all your big brother wanted."

 _The fifth bell tolled_

Seiko didn't flinch at the sound, though she worried there wasn't much time left. She stared softly into Yuka's eyes. "Please do this for me. Do this for him."

Yuka wiped her red face. She nodded. Seiko stood up and took hold of her arm and they ran.

Ayumi and Yoshiki were waiting on the walkway anxiously for them when both girls burst through the entrance-way door . "Go!" Seiko shouted over the heavy rain.

 _The sixth bell tolled_

"Past the barrier!" Ayumi announced to everyone.

Part of the barrier was shattered at one side. Each one of them ran to it and each one of them threw themselves down and off the premises of the school just as the world was consumed by blinding white light.

* * *

Ayumi opened her eyes. At first she sees the decayed ceilings and torn up walls, she smells the stench of rotting flesh and hears the cries of tortured souls, but she blinks them away. This is her school with it's walls and floors in pristine condition. Gleaming and untouched by death. She smiles. "We made it." She notices Seiko who sits up with look of disbelief on her face. Ayumi swivels her head and sees Yuka, who neither looks happy or shocked. The relief filled girl turned around to Yoshiki, he's not up yet. She goes to him and shakes his side. "Look Kishinuma we're here I told you we'd make it. I promised you didn't I." But he didn't move. Ayumi still had a trace of a smile on her face but her sorrowful eyes spoke the truth. She shook him again. "We're here come on." Ayumi didn't look back to Yuka and Seiko whose faces were downcast and unwilling to make eye contact with each other. Ayumi clenched her eyes shut. "I've said I'm sorry what more do you want!" She screamed the words. She heard a low groan and opened her eyes, Yoshiki stirred not fully awake but not dead yet. "We're here." Ayumi muttered once again before turning to the others in the room. "Call an ambulance..." They looked confused for a moment, they were yet to catch their bearings. "Now." Ayumi barked. Seiko recollected herself and stumbled for her phone which for the first time in a long while gathered a signal. Ayumi turned Yoshiki to face her, his eyes almost fully shut. "I promised didn't I? I did...I said...I promised..." Ayumi continued to ramble silently. She was not responsible for his death but what of the others? Their blood was soaked on her hands.

* * *

Yuka slowly unlocked her front door; a sight she had been dreaming of for so long now looked like a lie. The young girl walked through with a noticeable quiver still in her bones. She turned and closed the door behind her. It made a small clicking sound. The sound of her parents footsteps could be heard gaining on her rapidly as she slipped off her shoes as she always did. Yuka turned and her mother was standing there with her jaw dropped.

She took in the disheveled appearance of her young daughter. There was stains of all colours caking her body. "Yuka sweetie what happened? Where have you been? We've been so worried?" Her mother who took a step closer to her daughter sounded incredulous, but not angry.

Yuka swayed slightly. "I'm so sorry mommy big brother's gone forever."

Yuka's mothers eyebrows closed in on each other. "Yuka what are you saying?"

Yuka did not sob the words she merely spoke them, but the catch in her throat could not be missed. "He's dead I'm so sorry."

Her mother's eyes widened as she bent down closer and put a hand on Yuka's shoulder. "Who's dead Yuka!? Who?" The muted, distant sound of Yuka's father hurriedly making his was down stairs was barely registered by either of them.

Yuka started to cry now. "Big brother." She wailed.

Her mother's voice raised in a panic. "You don't have a big brother Yuka. Whose blood is this?!"

Yuka stopped instantly, she stifled her tears. "Yuka?" Her mother uttered fearfully.

Mother and daughter stared into each others eyes with only the surrounding silence. Yuka spoke only one more word. "...Liar."

* * *

A/N

So this is the final chapter. I never had a plan for how long this would be though I always had an ending in mind. Originally I was going to keep the same survivors of the original story but decided at some point that it should be different and kinda decided who was going to go along the way.

This story is finished but I'm probably going to go back and re-do a lot of things. Nothing major that actually affects the story but I want to at least fix all the things that have been bothering me. I've been experiment a lot with the way I was writing throughout. This story is the first thing I've ever wrote and most of it was guessing. I don't think it was until later that I started to properly break into things.

Apparently i started this around 7 months ago and did not realise it would take that long but tbf i did get lazy at times. I have a new idea for another CP story (which is different from this one) and I'm going to go ahead and write it since i liked writing this one so much. I can't say when that'll be up because it's just in drafts right now.

thank you if you took the time to read this. I hope you enjoyed it. Feel free to leave your thoughts if u made it this far.

Also, I didn't forget about Kai I just thought I would leave what happened to him up to the readers.


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